Black Widow
by Megumi Tsukazu
Summary: Kiba stumbles apon a girl while training. Little is known about the girl but she soons reveals herself to be called Aki Hakashu. They slowly grow closer and he and the village discover the secrets behind Aki's pretty face and quiet background... KibaXOC
1. Sparring Practice

**The Black Widow**

By: MEGUMI TSUKAZU

Naruto Fan Fiction

Chapter 1

Sparring Practice

Kiba Inuzuka sat at Ichiraku Ramen with his head down. He sat a watched the couples stroll by. It seemed that every guy that walked passed had a girl clinging to his arm and holding his hand. Kiba gave a sigh of irritation which made his best friend, Akamaru, whine.

"I'm fine Akamaru." His dog tilted his head to the side, it was obvious that Akamaru wasn't buying Kiba's story. "Hey, what's up Kiba?" Kiba looked up from his dog and saw Shikamaru sitting in the seat next to him. "Hi Shikamaru" Kiba sighed. "What's wrong, Kiba?" Shikamaru questioned. "Everyone seems to have a girlfriend except me." Akamaru gave a small yip and Kiba quickly added "and Akamaru".

"There are a bunch of girls out there who aren't taken, Kiba. Just fish one out." "Okay let's see," Kiba said a little annoyed. "Sakura: taken, Hinata: Taken, Temari" Kiba looked over at Shikamaru who was smiling, Shikamaru finished his sentence for him, "Taken."

Kiba folded his arms over his chest, "Leave it to you, Shikamaru, to take the prettiest one." Shikamaru laughed, "I can't help it if I'm dating Temari!" They sat in silence for about 5 minutes, Shikamaru finally broke the silence.

"There's always Ino," he said half grimacing. "There is no way I'm going out with Ino, because I know that when you find out the Temari is cheating on you, you're going to go out with Ino so there's no point in going out with her." Shikamaru laughed again, "Come on Kiba, cheer up! You'll find a great girl for you." "Shikamaru, I'm a dog, that's basically all I am; who would want to go out with a dog?!"

Just as he said that, Master Jaraiya walked past with a girl on each of his arms. "There you go Kiba; two girls want to go out with that dog!" Kiba laughed at Shikamaru's joke. "Don't worry about it, Kiba. You'll find someone," Shikamaru said as he got up to leave.

"I've got to go, me and Temari have sparring practice today." SPARRING! How could he forget?! Kiba looked down at his watch, it read 5:30. Kiba jumped up, strapped his kunai pouch to his thigh and ran toward the practice grounds.

Kiba arrived at the training grounds to see Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Choji, Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, and Shino glaring at him. "Sorry you guys, I just got...held up…" "HELD UP?! We've been waiting for 1 ½ hours for you to show Kiba Inuzuka!" Sakura yelled. "Yeah, you mutt! We all do have lives you know! Me and Hinata could be having some quality time together right now, but she wanted to come and support her old teammate, and you don't even show up!" Naruto shouted. "I should sick my flesh eating beetles on you" Shino said quietly.

"I am so sorry you guys, really I am." "What were you 'held up' by exactly Kiba? Then I'll decide if you're going to be sorry," Neji said. "I was……just….." Kiba tried to come up with a better excuse that 'I was watching couples pass by'.

Neji ran full speed into Kiba and held him against a nearby tree. His forearm pushed against Kiba's neck, his other had held a kunai against Kiba's neck. "That's not a good enough answer you loser." Akamaru growled at Neji. Tenten ran to Neji's side and wrapped her arms around his midsection.

"Come on, Neji. Do you really want to waste a kunai on Kiba?" she questioned him and kissed his cheek. Neji finally released Kiba and let him fall to the ground. Neji pointed his kunai at Kiba threateningly, "You are so lucky that Tenten knows how to calm me down, Kiba."

The group began their training; they trained for 2 hours before they stopped for a break. Kiba plopped down onto a log and pulled Akamaru into his lap. He thought about what Shikamaru had said to him. _"Don't worry Kiba, you'll find a girl"_ He looked down at Akamaru who had curled into a ball and was attempting to fall asleep. "I think what Shikamaru said might be true, I will get a girl, and I'll make sure you get one too," he smiled down at Akamaru who gave a small sigh of relief.

Kiba was almost asleep when he heard something moving in the bushes. He looked at them as the branches of the bush danced; he pulled out a kunai and braced himself. "Akamaru," he whispered, his dog leaped up and crouched down onto the ground.

To Kiba's surprise, a girl stumbled out of the bush. She wore a tattered skirt and shirt stained with blood. Her face was matted with blood and dirt. The girl looked around Kiba's age, 15 or 16. She was struggling to stand, and then she stumbled to the ground and landed face first in the dirt.

Kiba hurriedly put his kunai away and pulled the girl into his arms. "You guys! Hurry, come here!" Kiba shouted to his friends. The rest of the chunin rushed over and saw the unconscious girl in Kiba's arms.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the others running in her direction. With agility that shocked Kiba, the girl jumped up and put Kiba into a head lock and held a giant kunai to his neck. "Stay away or I'll slit his throat" she said in a hoarse voice. Kiba sent chakra into his fingernails and made them grows longer; he turned around and dug his nails into the girl's side. SPAN

She dropped her kunai and passed out again. Kiba caught her and ran off toward the nearest hospital.


	2. Village Transfer

Chapter 2

Village Transfer

She opened one eye slowly. The room was completely white, the blinds in the room were pulled closed which she guessed meant it was night time. She looked to her right and there was an IV in her arm. A nurse walked in and saw the girl was awake. "Hello, I am nurse Saki." "Where am I?" she said in a quiet voice. "You are in Konoha, Village Hidden in the Leaves. This," Nurse Saki said holding up a plastic bracelet, "is your hospital bracelet. I needed to wait for you to wake up to fill in the bracelet, nobody in the village has heard of you before, are you visiting?"

She shook her head. "Name, age, birthday, original village, and occupation please?" Nurse Saki asked. "Aki Hakashu, age 15, genin ninja." "Oh, so you're a ninja? Can I ask your original village?" Aki hesitated before answering. "I'm from the grass village," she mumbled. "Um Nurse Saki? Who brought me here?" The nurse pointed to the corner of the room. A boy sat in the corner, he had brown spiky hair and red tattoos on each of his cheeks. There was a dog on his lap. "Hi I'm Kiba Inuzuka; this is my dog, Akamaru."

The nurse went to leave the room and stopped halfway out the door. "Speaking of dogs…..there is a large group of animals outside the door, there was a bat that was carrying a picture of you." When she said this a bat, dog, cat, and a butterfly came through the door. The nurse squealed. "It's okay Nurse Saki, I own these animals." The nurse nodded and left the room.

"Kiba, I want to apologize for attacking you in the training grounds tonight" Aki looking down at her lap. Her long trailing black hair covered most of her face but Kiba could still make out the bright green eyes through her dark hair. "It's no big deal, why don't you introduce me to your pets?" Kiba suggested.

"This" she said pointing to a bat that was hanging from her IV, "is Sani." The butterfly floated over onto her nose, "This is Ngasi, my cat is Arsis, and my dog, Shikana." A snake slithered out of her sleeve. "And this is my rattlesnake, Nagini." "Wow, you're a real animal person, aren't you, Hakashu Sama?" Kiba said amazed.

"Yes, I don't have very many friends so I make friends with animals" Aki said with a hint of pride in her voice. "You said you're a ninja right? Are you here visiting someone, or are you on a mission?" Kiba asked curiously. "Actually, I'm here for a 

village transfer, like I said earlier, I don't have many friends, so I couldn't be visiting anyone."

"So you want to be transferred into the Village Hidden in the Leaves?" Aki nodded. Kiba eyed the rattle snake that crept up Aki's arm. "Aren't you afraid? That Nagini might bite you I mean." "Oh Nagini would never bite me," Aki laughed. "Would you like to hold her?" Kiba stood up and walked toward her bed. He reached for the snake that Aki held out, Nagini began rattling her tail.

"I don't think she likes me much, Hakashu Sama," Kiba chuckled nervously. Sani fluttered over to Kiba and hung himself upside down by Kiba's hood. "Sani, do you like Inuzuka San??" Aki smiled. Akamaru hopped down from Kiba's head and began inspecting Shikana. He poked her with his snout and licked her fur then hopped into Aki's arms.

"He likes you, Hakashu Sama" Kiba said, half blushing. "Just call me Aki. He's so cute Inuzuka San! You know what they say about dogs and their owners, right?" she gave a small smile. "They take after their owners." Kiba blushed even more and pulled his hood down lower to cover his eyes.

There was a light knock on the door. "Come in," Aki said. Tsunade and Shizune stepped through the door. Kiba immediately stood up and gave a shallow bow. "Good evening, Hokage Sama, good evening Lady Shizune," Kiba said quietly. "Hey Kiba! Stop with the formalities, will you?" Tsunade said rather casually. "So," she said, her voice turned cold. "This is the girl, eh Kiba?" "Yes Lady Tsunade" Kiba said trying to become more comfortable. "May I ask, as the leader of this village, what your business in Konoha is?"

Aki shifted in her hospital bed, noticing that Tsunade's voice darkened when she addressed her. "I would like to become a member of the Hidden Leaf; I would like to transfer villages." "Oh really? May I ask your name?" Tsunade was glaring at Aki; Kiba could here the snake on Aki's wrist start rattling. "Aki Hakashu, I'm from Village Hidden in the Grass."

"Miss Aki, I am sure that you are wondering why on earth I am acting so cold toward you, am I right?" Tsunade said coldly. "The reason is because I don't like people who come into my village and attack my ninja for no apparent reason" she said coolly. "That was an accident; I mistook Inuzuka San for one of the ninja who were attacking me at the time." She stopped and Kiba knew she had said something she wished she hadn't.

"You were being attacked? By whom my I ask?" Aki gritted her teeth, "Rouge Ninja." Tsunade raised her eyebrows, "Just one more question, Miss Aki Hakashu. What is you goal as a ninja?" Aki gripped the white sheets of her bed. "I am sure that you have 

heard of Gaara No Sabaku, am I right Lady Hokage?" "Gaara? Isn't that the Kazekage and the one with the sand Shikaku sealed inside of him?" Shizune piped up.

"Yes, the only reason Gaara was born was to become a weapon, my goal as a ninja is to stop experimental ninja births," Kiba looked over as Aki who was putting a death grip on the sheet. I guess she feels strongly about that Kiba thought.

Tsunade's cold look disappeared, her eyes were filled with warmth and so was her voice. "Well then, I would be happy to bring a new Kunoichi into Konoha!" Kiba looked over at Aki whose expression also softened. "Thank you Lady Tsunade!" "No prob, so I hear that you're a Genin, would you like to become a Chunin tonight, Aki?" Aki nodded happily.

"Alright! You seem like a strong girl, fight one of my own Chunin and win and you will be a Chunin yourself. Aki screwed up her face, "I think I would like to try something a harder. I will fight the strongest Ninja in Konoha, if I win, I become Chunin." Tsunade thought for a minute then smirked.

"Well, I am the strongest ninja in Konoha, but I'm not in a fighting mood." Kiba thought for a moment, "What about Jaraiya Sensei?" He immediately wished he hadn't said anything. "Good suggestion Kiba! Aki will fight the old man," Tsunade smiled. "Alright, first to blood wins, Lady Tsunade?" Aki asked. Kiba noticed a small smirk on Aki's face; all of her animals began to, what looked like, nod. Kiba knew there was something Aki wasn't telling them.


	3. Deadly Weapon

Chapter 3

A Deadly Weapon

Aki stood on one side of the Chunin exam arena, Jaraiya stood opposite her. "Come on, Tsunade, do you really expect her to win against me?" Jaraiya whined. He looked around the arena, a large number of Chunin and Jonin had gathered to see the match between a Sanin and a mere Genin.

Of the Chunin and Jonin there, there was Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Temari, Ino, Shino and Kiba. Kiba watched as the girl that had been in a hospital bed just minutes before stood about to fight a Sanin. "Come off it, Jaraiya! Hey, at least she's a pretty one right?" Tsunade said, trying to keep the old man from leaving. Jaraiya smirked, "She is, ain't she."

Sakura and Ino were the only Chunin allowed on the field (they're medical ninja they have to be on the field). They took there spots near each ninja as Shizune brought her hand up as a signal for the match to start. "Master Jaraiya, Sanin, against Aki Hakashu, Genin. Fight to the first blood!" Shizune brought her hand down and Jaraiya jumped into the nearby trees to keep hidden and think of a strategy.

_Hmm, I should go easy on her, she's only a Genin after all_ he thought. "Rule number one, MASTER Jaraiya" Aki smirked. "Don't EVER underestimate me. Come at me as if you want to kill me. Because if you don't" she stopped and caressed the top of Nagini's head. "You'll die!"

Aki made a few quick hand signs "Transformation Jutsu." She placed a finger on Nagini's head. "HMM? A transformation jutsu? You can't beat a Sanin with a simple jutsu you learn in the academy" Jaraiya scoffed.

Nagini shot out of Aki's long sleeved jacket and wrapped it self around Jaraiya's neck. "What?! How can a mere Genin do a transformation jutsu on this level?!" Every Chunin and Jonin in the stadium was on the edge of their seat as they watched this girl hold the life of Jaraiya the Toad Sage in her very hands.

"I told you didn't I? If you underestimate me you die," Aki said a little too cheerfully. "Urgh, this girl. Is she some kind of demon or something?" Jaraiya said under his breath. Nagini hissed at him making Jaraiya flinch. "She said not to insult her master, Jaraiya Sama" Aki hissed. "Alright Nagini, that's enough, release him please. I don't want to kill him!"

Nagini did as she was told; Aki released the transformation jutsu on Nagini and returned her to her normal size. Jaraiya massaged his bruised neck and watched Aki make her next move.

Aki bit into her thumb and made a few hand signs. "Huh? I know those hand signs!" Jaraiya bit into his thumb and did the same signs. In unison the two slammed their hand into the dirt "Summoning Jutsu!" Aki shot up into the air. She was surrounded by a cloud of dust, dirt, and smoke. Where Jaraiya stood was a large cloud of smoke.

Ino, Sakura, and Neji let out ear piercing screams. As the smoke and dust around Aki cleared, Shino stood up and looked at what Aki had summoned with admiration. "What the heck it THAT?!" Naruto yelled. "You loser! How do you not know what that is?" Sasuke said annoyed. "Naruto, you're such a drag. It's obvious what it is," Shikamaru said in his usual bored voice. "It's a Black Widow," Shino said. All heads turned to Shino (except for Hinata and Kiba who were used to hearing their ex teammates voice).

"To think, that a Genin could summon something like this" Shino whispered. "I did it," Naruto said a little annoyed. "Yeah, but Aki doesn't have the Nine Tailed Fox sealed inside of her" Hinata said quietly. "……The Black Widow, one of the most deadly spiders known to man; and she summoned in like it was no big deal…" Shino was completely astounded.

"Master Aki, it's been a while since you have summoned me," the spider said. "No time for reminiscing now Genja," Aki said fiercely. The spider looked at Jaraiya standing atop Gamabunta's head. "Well, well, well Master Aki. It's been a while since I've fought anyone. Especially someone as strong as the old man" Genja said.

Aki glared at Jaraiya, "And don't be expecting to Genja." "Hmm? Why is that Master?" Aki threw her head back in laughter. "Do you really think I'm that stupid Master Jaraiya?!" She pulled out a kunai and threw 5 into the trees behind her. The real Jaraiya jumped from the trees.

Everyone was shocked. "How did she know that that Jaraiya and Gamabunta were fake?" Naruto said a bit clueless. "It was simple really," Neji said, finally calmed down from seeing the enormous spider. "There were two was of telling that it was a fake. The first was when the old man bit his finger, even if you were watching intently the human eye wouldn't have been able to see it."

"Hmm?" Naruto and Kiba were lost completely. Sasuke was catching up. "If you had been watching with byakugan," Hinata said, "You would have seen that he didn't bleed when he bit down on his thumb." Naruto turned to Hinata, "You are so smart Hinata! You're a genius!" he kissed her cheek. "I was saying the same exact thing," Neji laughed.

"What was the second way you could tell it was fake?" Kiba asked. "When the chick and the old guy did their summoning jutsu the spider kicked up dust," Shikamaru said. "And the toad just had a cloud of smoke!" Sasuke said, proud that, unlike Naruto and Kiba, he could follow along with the rest of the Chunin.

Everyone quieted down as Aki pulled out a kunai. "Master Jaraiya, to beat you, all I'm going to need is my knee and this kunai. You may leave now Genja." The giant Black Widow disappeared. _Alright_ Jaraiya thought._ She has shown me up enough! No more Mr. Nice Guy._ Jaraiya ran full speed toward Aki. Then Jaraiya stopped just inches away from her face. It looked like he was about to barf. Throughout the arena all of the male ninja were wincing in pain. All except Naruto and Kiba. "Way to go Aki!" Naruto shouted. "You did Hakashu San!" Kiba yelled.

Jaraiya stood about to pass out with Aki's knee shoved into his groin. He finally fell backwards and laid in the dirt for what felt like hours until Aki came over to him. "You did very well Master Jaraiya. But like I said, don't underestimate me." She took out her kunai and made a fine shallow slice on his cheek, a drop of blood dripped down the side of his face.

"Congratulation and welcome to Konoha Aki," Tsunade said as she stepped over Jaraiya. Tsunade held out a Konoha head band. Aki took it gratefully.

All of the chunin rushed over to Aki. "Wow, Aki that was so cool!" Kiba said. "That spider was amazing," Shino said. Aki smiled, "You are Shino Aburame, am I correct?" Shino looked a little taken aback. "I've heard about your clan. It's amazing really, that you have such a close bond with insects," Ngasi fluttered over to Shino and perched himself on Shino's nose.

"Well I'll call that a night," Tsunade said. "Hey Jaraiya, you might want to get up now," she snickered. "Well Shino, I do own another spider. Would you like to see him?" Shino nodded happily. Aki began to channel her chakra. Her bright green eyes turned blinding white. After a few minutes they turned back to their natural color.

Naruto looked around for a spider. "Where is it?" "He's coming, he has a long ways to go, and I left him at my last stop."

"And where was that?" Sasuke Uchiha questioned.

"Suna," Aki said casually.

The wind suddenly began to pick up. Then a spider plopped out of the sky infront of Aki. This one wasn't as big as Genja had been, but it did stand a few inches taller that Neji. This spider was obviously a Black Widow.

"This is Kenji," Aki smiled. She looked at the night sky. "Well it's late. I'd better be going." Aki hopped onto Kenji's back, "Come on, Kenji. We need to get some shelter." Ngasi fluttered back over to Aki as Kenji slowly began to walk toward the exit of the Chunin arena. Arsis and Shikana followed behind Kenji, Sani flew behind.

"Oh wait, Kenji!" Her spider stopped and Aki hopped off of the spider. She sprinted over to Kiba. "Inuzuka San, I never thanked you," she said smiling. Kiba blushed, "Oh it was nothing. Just saving a damsel in distress," he laughed. Aki giggled and kissed his cheek lightly. Kiba went red, which made Aki laugh even more.

"Well I'll see you all later, it was nice meeting you guys," she waved at them and hopped back onto Kenji who leaped into the air and took off jumping from tree to tree with Arsis, Shikana, and Sani following behind her.

Shikamaru elbowed Kiba in the side, bringing him back to earth. "Told you," he whispered. "Well, I know you guys are going to be troublesome to me if I stay. Me and Temari are gonna get going."

Kiba slowly began walking to the exit, making his way home. He had his hand over the spot where Aki has kissed him.


	4. Just Kill Me Now

Chapter 4

Just Kill Me Now

Aki awoke to the sound of birds chirping. She had fallen asleep on Kenji's back. Her gaze drifted to each of her animals to make sure they were asleep. She slowly slipped off Kenji's back.

There was a small lake right next to the silk shelter Kenji had made for them the night before. Aki stripped off her clothes and waded into the water. "It's been a while since I've been able to bathe without Rouge Ninja or Tracker Ninja or Akatsuki disrupting my bath."

Aki made her way out of the lake. "Secret Jutsu. Air Manipulation." The air around Aki's body became hot and she was quickly dry. "My Kekkei Genki is so useful," she laughed to herself.

She poked Kenji until he woke. "Kenji could you make me some clothes please?" Kenji began to spin his silk. He used his hind legs to hand his master a silk woven shirt. Aki pulled the shirt over her head; she was disappointed to find that the shirt only covered what needed covering.

"Thanks Kenj, I'll just wear my old skirt," Aki said smiling and gave Kenji a kiss. Aki lifted her old skirt that was drenched in blood. "Secret jutsu! Blood Manipulation," the blood on the skirt was lifted out of the clothe, Aki soaked the blood into the silk woven shelter. The skirt was once again pure white.

"Kenj, watch the rest of them please, I'm off to find some breakfast. I'm going to be in town all day probably." She slipped on her fish net gloves and pulled her sandals on as she tied her head band around her waist.

Aki was walking through Konoha when she heard someone calling her name. "Aki! Aki over here!" She turned and saw that there were about 6 people calling her name. The loudest was Kiba, the rest were Tenten, Ino, Sakura, and Hinata, and Temari sitting at Ichiraku Ramen.

Aki strolled over to them; she held her large jacket closed when she saw Kiba. Aki sat down at the bar and ordered her food. "We weren't really introduced last night," Ino said. "I'm Ino Yamanaka, my family runs the best flower shop in Konoha," she said smiling.

"I'm Sakura Haruno, nice to meet you!" she said cheerfully. "My name is Tenten, a weapons mistress."

"I'm Hinata Hyuga, heir to the Hyuga main branch," Hinata said quietly. "And I'm Temari No Sabaku, the Kazekage's older sister."

They all looked very nice and cheerful. "Here you go Miss," the chef set a steaming bowl of ramen infront of her. She inhaled her ramen and was getting up to go train when Kiba called to her again.

"Wait! Aki!" She spun around. Kiba sprinted over to Aki. "There's this really great club here in Konoha. I was wondering if you would want to go with me tonight." A smirk crept across Aki's face. "You mean like a date?" Kiba nodded. "Sure! I'll meet you back here at 8:00, alright?"

Kiba looked down at his watch, "Oh well I've got to go, I'll see you tonight Aki!" He ran off toward his house. All of the girls that Aki had been talking to at Ichiraku ran up to her. "We need to take you shopping if you've got a date with Kiba!" Ino said happily.

The words rushed through Aki's mind. They replayed over and over again in her head. _We have to go shopping!_ Shopping……..oh dear…just kill me now, Aki thought.

Ino and Sakura held Aki by the wrists and were dragging her along with them. They dragged her into a clothing shop where Temari, Tenten, and Hinata had to find things for Aki to try on.

After they had been in the shop for almost 2 hours Aki said "You guys know that I can get my own clothes made for me, anyway I want them." The girls looked at each other. "Then off to the SPA!" Ino said.

They walked for a few minutes then Aki and Tenten stopped infront of a weapons shop. Their eyes were wide like when a child looks through the window of a candy shop. "Can we stop here?!" Tenten asked. Temari looked through the window and spotted an iron fan inside with intricate designs. "We'll stop here!" she said. Aki squealed happily and ran inside dragging Tenten and Temari inside with her.

Tenten ran to the throwing weapons, Temari ran toward the fan she has seen, and Aki basically pushed and shoved until she got to the section with long swords.

There was a teenage boy in this section to help customers find what they need. "Are you lost?" he asked Aki. Aki turned to look at the man. "Excuse me?" she said a little annoyed. "Are you lost? Most girls don't come into this shop, and judging my by the pathetic excuse for clothes that you're wearing, you aren't going to afford anything in this shop," he said with a smirk.

She ignored him and picked up a large sword off the wall. "Tenten! Temari! Are you guy's ready to pay?!" They sprinted over to Aki.

"Aki, you're not going to pay for all of this, are you?" Tenten said hold a large amount of throwing weapons. "Sure I will, you guys are my friends now, it's my treat." Aki shoved the sword into the teenager's hands.

"Are you going to be able to afford it, lady?" the boy asked. Aki grimaced, "Don't worry about me. If you want to worry about anyone, worry about yourself." The boy calculated the prices into the register. "Was that a threat?" he asked. "Well it wasn't a complement, was it?" Aki said smiling.

The boy muttered something about Kunoichi's and stupid and women. "That will be 250000 yen," (2157.03) he said smirking. "Wow! Maybe we shouldn't buy anything," Temari said, looking sadly at the fan she was planning on buying. Aki pulled out a checkbook and wrote him a check. The boy almost screamed when he saw the amount on the check. Aki went to leave when the boy called her back.

"Hey! You overwrote this check! I said only 250000 yen." Aki turned around and smiled. "It's okay," she said. "Consider the overpayment a 'tip'." And with that Aki, Tenten, and Temari walked out of the weapon shop.

"Aki, how much did you pay them?" Temari asked. "500000 yen" (4314.06) she said brightly.

The girls were on their way to Aki's "house". Ino and Sakura each carried bags from the first clothing store; Hinata had bought some new kunai at the weapon shop. When they reached what Aki called her house, they all stood in shock. The silk woven home was beautiful. The way that the setting sun made the silk glisten was amazing.

"Kenji! We have guests!" Aki called. Hearing Aki call the name of someone Ino asked "Who is Kenji? You're brother?" "Oh no, Kenji is my best friend!" Aki laughed. Kenji slowly crept out from the trees. Ino and Sakura gasped loudly.

"It's okay you guys, he's really shy. He won't hurt you," Aki said smiling. Aki walked over to Kenji. "Hey Kenj, I got a new sword! You wanna see it? It's still not as good as the one Master gave us though." Aki pulled her knew sword out of the sheath.

Temari came up behind Aki and reached out toward Kenji. Kenji flattened himself to the ground and Temari drew her hand back. "It's alright, it's his way of saying he likes you!" Aki smiled.

Sakura looked down at her watch. "Aki! You only have 1 hour to get ready!" Aki smiled "Okay, I'll show you guy's my own personal clothing designer. Alright Kenji, I'm going out on a date tonight with Inuzuka San and I need some really cute clothes. Can you make some for me, Kenj?"

Kenji made a cooing noise and began spinning his silk. He used his hind legs to hand his master a shirt. She pulled it over her head. One sleeve was long, as a matter of fact it was much longer than her arm, but that's what made it look unique. The other sleeve was tattered and extremely short.

Kenji kept spinning his silk. He handed Aki a skirt when he was finished. Aki pulled the skirt on. It was a long skirt that had slits on each side up to her mid thigh. "Oh wow! You look amazing Aki San!" Hinata gasped. Aki smiled, "Thank you Hinata! And thank you Kenji," she gave her overgrown spider a hug.

Aki bent down and pulled up a hand full of twine (why is twine in Japan? don't ask me please) and braided it. When she was done braiding the twine she pulled her hair up into a bun and tied it with the braided twine.

"Sakura, time check please," Aki said. "It's 7:05" she laughed. Aki smiled "I have time to show you guys my special jutsu and break in the new sword!" "Let's go to the training grounds then," Tenten piped up. "Thanks again Kenji, you're such a life saver!" Aki said as her friends dragged her to the training ground.

At the training grounds Aki stood infront of one of the stumps with her new sword in her hands. She sliced at the stump and to everyone's surprise it fell to pieces. "Wow, you're a great swords master Aki," Temari commented. "Thank you Temari, my uncle taught me" Aki said proudly.

"Aki San, show us your special jutsu," Hinata said curiously. "Alright," she smiled. "You all need to step back about ten feet," Aki said seriously. Aki reached behind her and grasped the handle of her old sword. She slowly unsheathed it and to everybody's surprise there was no blade on her sword.

Aki channeled her chakra to the sword then said "Secret Jutsu, Sakura Blades." Sakura petals fell from the sky. It was beautiful. Then all of the stumps were suddenly 

sliced and demolished to nothing but mulch. "Aki that was amazing!" Tenten said. "Who gave you that sword?"

Aki smiled, "My dad, well he was my foster father". "Aki! It's 7:55, you need to get going!" Sakura yelled. Aki waved good bye and ran on the path toward Ichiraku Ramen.

Aki looked around in search of Kiba. He was nowhere in sight. She sighed and sat at the bar of Ichiraku Ramen. "You want some ramen little miss?" the chef asked. She shook her head; she waited for 20 more minutes before she got up and started walking back to her silk shelter.

"Aki! I am so sorry!" she turned and saw Kiba running toward her. She crossed her arms over her chest, she was obviously pissed. "You punk! I thought you stood me up!" she yelled. "NO! My mom, she had me working with my sister and the vet! Aki I'm sorry…" Kiba said quietly.

"Alright then, Punk, take me to this night club you were talking about this morning," Aki said smiling.

Kiba led the way to the only night club in Konoha, which was pretty freaking awesome if I may be frank. Kiba pulled Aki through the door and they entered the black lit club. There were two bars and one HUGE dance floor.

Aki stood out like a sore thumb. She had on white silk clothes, which were now glowing bright purplish thanks to the black light. She has two swords strapped to her back. Her brand new one and the one her master had given to her. Not to mention the fact that Nagini had coiled herself around Aki's wrist.

Aki grabbed Kiba's wrist and dragged him onto the dance floor. They danced like idiot for almost and hour before Aki felt someone tap of her shoulder. She turned and saw the clerk from the weapons shop.

"Well, I had the wrong impression of you Miss" he said smiling politely. Aki grimaced, "Well my first impression of you was correct: a pompous loser." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Aki, do you know this guy?" Kiba asked. "Mmm-hmm……This is the loser from the weapons shop who thought that I was a hobo." The shop clerk laughed, "So, your name is Aki? That's a very pretty name Miss Aki." Aki's face flushed with anger, "Who do you think you are, calling me by my first name?! It's Hakashu to you, you jerk!"

The clerk laughed again, "Why don't you try saying that to my face, Aki?" Aki pulled her bladeless sword out of its sheath and held it toward him, "Alright, listen to me, you loser, if I weren't so nice you would have died this afternoon."

"Are you going to kill me with a bladeless sword? You really are pathetic, and the sad part is that your good looks are being wasted on someone like you!"

Kiba held the clerk against the wall, with a kunai held under his chin. "Let's take this outside you disrespectful little snot! I'll teach you how to respect a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village!"


	5. A Summoning From Grandma Tsunade

Chapter 5

A Summoning From Grandma Tsunade

Kiba had given up on beating the snot out of the clerk and had just decided to walk off the steam while taking Aki back to her make-shift home.

"Come in, Inuzuka San," Aki invited him. Kiba walked in cautiously, wondering how in the world a girl could stand to live in conditions like this. "Kenji, we have a guest! Oh Kiba, watch out, Kenj doesn't take easily to guys," Aki laughed nervously.

Kenji slowly made his way toward Kiba. The spider made a small cooing noise, _Master Aki, I don't like this boy. He smells of lust. _Aki blushed, "Kenji, I know that's a lie. Stop trying to make me think that!" she said to the spider. Kiba ignored Aki's outburst and slowly made his way toward the lake behind the shelter.

The moon shimmered across the liquid surface of the lake. The stars sparkled in the clear midnight blue sky and reflected in the water. The sight was breathtaking. "Aki, this is amazing!" Kiba gasped. Aki crept her way next to his side, "Yeah, it is," she smiled.

Kiba looked at her and grinned, "Hey Aki, do you like star gazing?" "I don't know, I've never taken time to go star gazing before," she admitted half blushing. Kiba smiled even wider, "Well I'll show you some constellations. Each constellation has a story behind it."

Kiba pointed out different stars in the sky and different constellations. He entertained Aki for hours with stories of the Long Tailed Bear and the Big Dipper and Orion. "That one right there," he pointed to what looked like a star high in the sky that seemed to be separate from everything else. "That's Venus, the brightest planet. It's named after the Roman goddess of beauty," Kiba laughed.

To him all these stories were just made up shmut. But Aki sat amazed by what Kiba was telling her, like she had never even been outside. "So Aki, tell me about yourself," Kiba smiled. Aki looked at him, a little confused, "Like what?"

"Well, what's your favorite food? Color? Season...Animal?" he said laughing. Aki laughed in return, "My favorite food is onion or garlic. My favorite color is white, and my favorite season is winter. I guess my favorite animal would be arachnids in general."

Aki yawned and leaned over onto Kiba's shoulder. "Hope you don't mind Inuzuka san, I really am tired." Kiba smiled, "No, it's okay, Aki. I don't mind." They sat in silence for a few minutes looking out onto the lake. Aki was almost asleep when there was a loud crack in the middle of Aki's shelter.

Both chunin spun around to see Shizune standing in the shelter. "I was told I'd be able to find Hakashu san here but I didn't expect to find you Kiba. Anyway, you have been summoned to Lady Hokage's mansion. She says that you must report immediately." And with another loud crack Shizune was gone.


	6. Mission Name: Retrieve Star of Yuki

Chapter 6

Mission name:

Retrieve the Star of Yuki

Aki and Kiba stepped into Tsunade's office where they saw a few other ninja who they recognized. "What a drag, are you serious Lady Hokage? Do I have to take Naruto?" Shikamaru Nara was leaning against a wall picking his teeth with a kunai. His usual 'you seriously bore me' face was on.

On the other side of the room stood Neji, Ino, Naruto, and Temari looking all a little confused. "Please Lady Hokage, let me go. I can do the mission!" Temari pleaded. Tsunade shook her head. "I'm sorry Temari; this mission is for the leaf village. I understand that you are our ally and a friend to us all, and even more to Shika san. But you can not come on this mission, and besides, don't you have to go check up on your idiots?"

Everyone knew who the hokage was referring to when she said "idiots". Temari's poor pathetic brothers, Kankuro and Gaara. "I guess you're right…Gaara said he wanted me to help him sort through his laundry anyway," Temari half laughed have grimaced.

"Good luck on your mission, you guys. Especially you Shikamaru, keep your eyes open for other ninja and stay safe, all of you." Temari skipped over to Shikamaru and hugged him tight, "I swear you lazy loser, if you don't come back in one piece there will be hell to pay." Temari pulled out her new fan and hopped onto it as if floated into the air and swiftly lead her back to her home in Suna.

Tsunade turned her attention to the 6 ninja in her office. "I have a mission for the 6 of you, that of which Shikamaru will be the leader of. As most of you know, we have recently become allies with the village hidden in the snow. And a document of theirs has been stolen. The Star of Yuki has been stolen from the village hidden in the snow."

Naruto's face just showed that he was clueless. "Huh? Grandma Tsunade, what's the Star of Yuki?" Tsunade sighed, "It's a scroll that hides some of the snow's most precious secrets. If it's been stolen it's probably by Rouge Ninja, the Village Hidden in the Sound, or the Akatsuki."

"You are to find both documents and return them, is that clear?" All ninja nodded. "Good! You have 30 minutes to leave the village!"

Each ninja hurried to their home to collect everything they would need for their mission and for some, to tell others that they would be leaving. Aki hurried home to pack, "Kenji, Shikana, Sani, Nagini, Ngasi, lets go, we're going on a mission."

Aki's cat, Arsis, plodded her way toward her and meowed loudly. _Master Aki, what about me?_ Aki laughed, "Arsis, you can stay here, you fat cat. Besides I need someone to look after the place for me," she smiled.

Aki finished packing when she looked onto the silk wall of her home. She had pinned a picture up on the wall; she pulled it off and stared at it. It was a picture of Aki; she was 4 in this picture. Her smile was wide and bright. In her arms she held a large spider and looked to be approximately 3 ft. in length. Behind her stood 4 men.

Kenji crept up behind her. _Burn that picture, Master Aki. Don't you remember what those cruel men did to you?! They're monsters, and they deserve to die._ Aki turned and slapped Kenji across his "face". "Don't you dare! Don't you dare say those things about my father and uncles! They raised me! They saved me, and I will not let you say those things about them!"

Her face was red and she was furious. Aki hated when Kenji said things like that. The man that Aki was referring to as her father was the man behind her in the photo. He had his arms wrapped around her; he was smiling just as big as Aki. He had dark hair and black eyes. His smile made him seem less intimidating then he actually was.

She stuffed the picture into her bag and hopped onto Kenji's back, "Come on Kenj, let's get going. Shikana, Sani, Nagini, and Ngasi, lets go."

Aki was the last one to be at the Village gate. "Alright," Shikamaru said. "Let's made a formation plan," he knelt down into the dirt. "Kiba will be in the front, since he has that keen sense on smell on him and Akamaru, it will be smart to put him in the front. Behind him will be me, since I'm the leader it will be easy for Kiba to communicate with me if I'm behind him. Behind me will be you Aki. Aki has all her animals and even though we haven't seen all your jutsu, you seem like the type of girl who always has a trick up her sleeve. Naruto, you'll be stationed behind Aki and behind you will be Ino."

Ino looked a little disgusted. "So I'll have to stare at Naruto's back all day long?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Ino, you're our M.N. and I want you protected to the fullest extent. Plus the fact that you're one of my best friends, I need you to be protected, alright?" That definitely shut Ino up. (An M.N. is a medical ninja)

He looked at Neji, "You'll be in the back Neji. With that 360º vision, it would be best to keep you in the back to you can see all around us. Alright everyone, Tsunade 

told me that we should start at the Sound Village. We are not going to sneak in; we want to appear as we're only passing through, alright? Let's go!"


	7. Autumn in the Sound: Part 1

Chapter 7

Autumn in the Sound:

Complications at the Gate

They had made it to the border without any interference. They had left around dawn and it was now around 4p.m. "Alright everyone, we aren't going to make enemies here in the Sound, got it Naruto?" Shikamaru scoffed.

The six ninja walked up to the gate of the Sound Village which had grown incredibly in the past few years. There was a sound chunin at the front gate, "Hey fellow ninja!" She had green bobbed hair, looked about twice their age, and wore a long kimono. She wore a genuine smile of her face.

"What brings the leaf ninja to the sound?" Aki decided to step forward before anyone said anyone stupid. "Hi, we leaf ninja have come a long way from our village. We on a mission, one of our village documents have been stolen and we must pass through the sound village to reach the thieves."

The sound ninja smiled, "As voice of the Sound Village, we would be happy to let you come through and stay in our villages for the time being!" Aki smiled gratefully and began to walk through the gate when the green haired chunin grabbed Aki's chin and yanked her over to eye level.

The other Leaf chunin reacted immediately. Neji had activated his Byakugan and now held the sound chunin's arm in his hand ready to block her chakra points when needed. Ino had unsheathed Aki's sword that she carried on her back and held it pointed at the chunin. Naruto and Shikamaru held Kunai up, ready to strike if needed. And Kiba stood behind the sound ninja with a kunai held against the girl's neck.

"Hmm…" the girl turned Aki's head slowly, showing her bare neck. "Hmm…….A Leaf ninja with a mark? That's unheard of; well it has been since that psycho Orochimaru ran this joint and tried to bring the youngest Uchiha. So…why did he take a liking in you, huh…wait, this isn't Orochimaru's doing. His work wasn't this tidy. It looks like this one has been here for a while now, almost 5 years. What kind of person would put a mark on a 9 or 10 year old kid?"

The look in the chunin's eyes was cold, distant. Not like before… Aki ripped herself away from the chunin and gripped the side of her neck. The sound chunin raised her eyebrows, "You have an inner demon, don't you? I knew that your chakra amount was too much for such a kid like yourself. Let's see if I can figure out which one it is that you have little girl…" The chunin closed her eyes and sniffed the air.

"The Nine Tailed Fox? I smell its chakra here," Naruto tightened up. "Oh, so the idiot with the spiky hair that has the Nine Tailed Fox. You, little girl, have…Hatori the Spider of Sound?" The sound chunin looked a little scared as she stared at Aki. Then a smirk spread across her face, "Oh, I understand now. Your father has been passing through here every now and then, your uncles too. Well two of them, your puppet uncle died last year. But your other uncles are doing well; your father is too."

Aki felt something burning inside of her. "Well then, like I said before, welcome to the Sound," the girl said smiling.


	8. Autumn in the Sound: Part 2

Chapter 8

Autumn in the Sound:

Question from the Squad

The Sound chunin had agreed to lead the squad to a hotel in the village. Since they were on a low budget the he had to fit the squad into one room. The men in the squad had decided to offer up the two queen sized bed's to the girls, the guys would stay on the couch and the floor.

Aki wandered over to her bed and sat down; her eyes were hollow and wide. She couldn't see anything around her. Shikana sat by Aki's feet clawing at her legs. She picked Shikana up and held her.

Aki walked onto the porch of their hotel room. It was almost 6p.m. and the sun was just beginning to set. "Aki, what was that all about?" She spun around to face Neji and Shikamaru.

"Huh?" she asked as she wiped a few tears out of her eyes. "What was that whole thing at the gate? It's not like we're trying to pry but since you are part of the squad we need to know what your background is" Shikamaru explained.

"What we're trying to say is," Neji began. "How does the village hidden in sound know you and what was the Hatori Spider thing that she was talking about?" "Well………I used to live here when I was a kid, about the Hatori thing, I don't know what she was talking about…" Aki said timidly.

Shikamaru shrugged and said "Whatever, tomorrow we're going to do some research and track down the Star of Yuki and get this mission over with."

The squad had decided to move on through the Sound and begin heading toward the border of the Land of Fire. They had been traveling for a few miles when both Akamaru and Shikana picked up the scent of other people.

"Neji, can you use your byakugan to scope out the surroundings" Shikamaru asked. As told Neji looked around, scoping out for other people. "There are two people about 3 miles ahead of us. They seem to just be resting…Wait, there making a move." The three people that Neji spotted seemed to look straight at him.

They began to move in the direction of the squad. "Shikamaru, they're coming this way!" "Get into formation!" Shikamaru snapped. "Ino, stay behind me, you'll be my backup!" Within a few seconds the three ninja were standing infront of the squad.

"Hello Leaf Ninja squirts, let's not make this hard. All that my buds and I are doing is passing through to get to out of the village. So don't get all feisty alright?" one of the ninja said.

"Well, we Leaf Ninja squirts are on a mission to find something called the Star of Yuki. You guys ever hear of it?" Shikamaru asked. The three sound ninja grinned at each other, "And what if we have? What are the squirts going to do about it?"

"Well," Aki smiled. "I guess we'll just have to beat the information out of you." They all looked at each other and grinned. "Just try to keep up with us girl," one of the men said and ran behind her and whispered into her ear. "You look awful familiar, Girl. Where have I seen you before?" He grinned slightly, "Oh I remember now, you are "the girl", aren't you?"

Aki spun around and held a kunai against his chin, "I have no clue what you are talking about. Now I know you have the Star of Yuki, give it to us, or I'll use force!" The ninja laughed, "We are nothing but pawns and we are on the bottom of the food chain in our 'cult'. We are being used as bodies to be disposed of. But then again, you know what that feels like, don't you?" he said smiling.

Aki threw her kunai to the ground and glared at him. He slowly began to levitate in the air and he flinched every now and then. "What's happening to him?" Naruto asked. "I've had enough of you, now, you're going to die," Aki said slowly.

Aki slowly closed her hand into a fist until there was a definite pop. The man fell to the ground dead. The Star of Yuki fell onto the ground next to his body. The other ninja grinned. "Well since that useless idiot couldn't complete his mission I'll do it."

He began passing staring at Aki. "So little miss, how has your life been?" She stayed silent and glared at him. "Actually I didn't even know you were alive until 3 weeks ago when you showed up in Konoha." He began to circle around her. "Would you like to know what our mission was?" he grinned deviously. "To let your 'daddy' know where you are, against all the rumors going around, he is alive, and our leader Orochimaru wants your daddy to see you again." He smiled then slid behind Kiba who stood perfectly still.

The ninja took a kunai out of his pocket and stabbed Kiba in the stomach. "No! Kiba!," Naruto gasped. He made a move to attack the ninja and to everyone's surprise the ninja slit he owns throat. The ninja body toppled to the ground far below them. (A/N: oopsies forgot to mention, their in treetops at the moment)

Aki rushed over to Kiba, her bright green eyes full of worry. "Kiba! Kiba can you hear me?" Kiba grinned playfully, "I'm okay Aki, really. It doesn't even hurt that bad…" his voice trailed off. _Like hell this hurts…_ he thought.

Kiba had fallen unconscious. Ino yanked the kunai out of Kiba's side, "Oh no, Shikamaru…" she whispered. He was trying to bandage his squad mates wound before he heard Ino calling him. "Shikamaru, this blade was poisoned. This blade has a chemical on it that thins the blood, so if we can't think of something soon, Kiba will bleed to death."

There was a rustle in the trees behind them and more ninja jumped from the vegetation. "Everyone man their position!" Shikamaru commanded. Ino looked over to Aki, "There's nothing we can do for Inuzuka san now, Aki…" The green eyed ninja grinned at Ino, "There is nothing you might be able to do…I can do something, Ino go man my position!"


	9. A Few Special Jutsu

Chapter 9

A Few Special Jutsu...

The squad was running out of chakra fast. The only two left with an adequate amount were Naruto and Neji. Aki sat next to Kiba who was slowly dying. She made a quick hand sign and slowly began focusing her chakra to her hands. "Secret Jutsu: Soul transfer: Healing!" she said fiercely.

The expression on her face would have made you think that she was about to vomit. She opened her mouth and a white gas like substance floated out and enveloped Kiba's wound. The bleeding came to a slow stop and he regained consciousness.

Once the attacking ninja saw this they retreated but not before one threw a kunai which landed at Aki's feet. Attached to the kunai was a piece of fabric. Aki bent down and read the piece of fabric and stuffed it into her pocket. "What was it, Aki?" Naruto asked. She smiled, "Oh nothing just a blank piece of fabric."

She bent down and helped Kiba up, "Now that we have the Star of Yuki, let's head back to the village." The rest of the squad nodded in agreement.

Across the country 3 men stood atop a cliff looking out onto the land below. One had short blue spiked hair. He blinked a few times from shock. "Hey, do you guys smell that?" he asked. The man with the long blonde hair raised his eyebrows, "What? Do you smell blood again?"

The first man shook his head. "No…I smell chakra, but this chakra is familiar…"His eyes widened. "This! This is HER chakra, Ita" he was cut off by their leader.

"So…She survived these passed years. Well………….now that I know that she is alive, I can use her as I originally intended…I will take her jutsu and her chakra away from her and keep her body as a shell…" he thought out loud. The first man looked like he could spit from disgust. "ITACHI! I thought we agreed that we wouldn't touch Kousetsu! You promised us and we promised her that we wouldn't do anything to her!" he screamed at his leader.

Itachi grinned, "So are you taking a walk on the noble side now Kisame? If so, I'll alert the rest of Akatsuki and we can have out own little rebellion against you, if you wish." Kisame gulped, "No, I just think that we should honor our promise to her, especially since she was family."

Itachi spat on his shoes, "She was NOT family……she was and IS not my heir and she is NOT an Uchiha. Now if you consider that little wretch your niece that is your 

business, same for you Deidara. But I will not and have never considered that little brat my child!"

_Authors Note:_

_(Dude! Alright, next chapter things start getting good. You'd find out who Kousetsu and why Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara need her. You will also find out that, yes, there is another heir to the Uchiha Clan. And she has been in hiding for years. Just wait………Yall are going to love it!!)_

_Signed,__ Megumi Tsukazu_

_P.s. All for one and one for Yaoi!_


	10. Flower of Choice

Chapter 10

Flower of Choice

The mission was somewhat a success. They had retrieved the Star of Yuki without "much" of an issue. Kiba had healed fast and now there was just a faint scare where he had been stabbed.

With the mission behind them, Tsunade turned her attention toward more important things. Fall was quickly clawing its way past the hot days of summer. The days of tanning in a bikini and sipping on smoothies were now over and the Hokage was now making plans for the Autumn Festival.

"Hey Kiba!," Naruto called across the training grounds. "You know that the Autumn Festival is coming up, who are you going to ask?" Kiba scratched the back of his neck and smiled shyly at him. "OH NO! Kiba, you CANNOT take Hana to the festival! You're FIFETEEN, you can't be seen taking your older sister to the Autumn Festival!"

Kiba smiled nervously at Naruto. "Naruto, I'm not taking Hana to the festival again," he smiled thinking back to the previous year when he was made fun of constantly of how he was taking his older sister to the festival for the fourth consecutive time. "I was actually thinking of asking…Aki……" his voice drowned out near the end of his sentence.

Choji slapped Kiba on the back, "Go for it Kiba. It's pretty much obvious that she's head over heals for you! If she's says no, I'll pay her!" Kiba blushed; he didn't want everyone to know how much of a chance he thought he had. In his minds eye Aki was a whole other species of human, one that was way more evolved than him.

He decided, despite the hollow pit feeling in his stomach, that he would try. He would go and ask her tomorrow, the day of the festival. _Besides,_ he thought, _what more can I lose?_

"Soooooooooo………" Sakura laughed, "who do _you_ want to ask you to the Festival, Hakashu San?" Aki looked down at her feet, "Uhmm…I don't know. I could go alone I guess…"

Ino grinned, "Go alone? Why go alone when you could go with Kiba Kun?" She looked up at Ino, she had a small blush inching its way toward her ears. "Oh, I doubt that Inuzuka Kun would ask me, he barely knows me…" Ino rolled her eyes in disapproval. "Aki San, what's your favorite color?"

Aki's eyebrows were arched in confusion, "Uh, white. It's the color of snow…"she smiled to herself. "But anyway, what about you guys?" she said referring to the other girls. "Who would you like to be asked by?"

"Well Lee Sama already gave me a rose, so I'll be going with him," Sakura smiled. "Same with me," Tenten chimed in. "Neji gave me a rose yesterday." "What about you Ino?" Hinata asked. She smiled evilly. "I'll be going to the festival with Kazekage Kun."

Temari spit out the water what she was drinking. "WHAT?!" all the girls screamed in unison. Ino grinned, "Gaara Sama gave me a red rose last week!" "And you HAVEN'T been waving it around in our faces?!" Sakura cried. Ino just giggled in return.

"Well," Hinata said quietly. "Naruto gave me a rose this morning…" "That's great Hinata Chan!" Aki commented happily. "Well I'm sure you guy's could've guessed, I'm going with Shikamaru," Temari stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Hey, Hinata Chan, your sister Hinabi, she's 11 now, right? Who will she be going with?" Sakura asked. "Oh, Hinabi Kun will be going with Sasuke, it's an odd match if you ask me but they are cute together…I guess." "Well then," Ino smiled, "Hakashu San, it is your duty to call each and every one of us when Kiba gives you a rose!"

Aki rolled her eyes but agreed. _Well, _she thought to herself,_ I wonder if Kiba Kun is getting a hard time as well…_

The day ended and still Aki had received no flower, not like she was expecting to. She had even considered not going to the Autumn Festival at all. But her hope that there would be a knock on the door and on the other side would be Kiba with a beautiful rose kept her from making a final decision.

She sat in the dirt leaning against Kenji; she stared at the beautiful Kimono that sat across her shelter folded neatly. _I see that Master is saddened. Is it because of that horrible dog boy, Master? _Aki laughed, "Yes Kenji, I'm waiting for him to ask me to the Autumn Festival, but it's tomorrow. I doubt he'll ask by tonight…"_ Would you like me to talk some since into him?_ Aki laughed saying no.

She then made a final decision. It didn't matter whether Kiba asked her or not. She would go and she would make sure Kiba saw her there, _just to see if he would regret not asking me_, she thought happily.

It was getting late, he wasn't even sure that the shop would still be open. He walked through the street with his hands stuffed down his pockets. He kept telling himself it was a stupid idea, that she would say no. Why would she? And what if he got her favorite color wrong?

Before he knew it he was in the flower shop looking over the flowers that sat in the stands. He stopped to admire a large blue rose. He picked it up and gently touched its petals. "I don't think she'll like blue," a voice said from behind the counter.

Kiba turned around to see Ino, with her legs propped up on the counter top smiling over at him. He then set down the blue rose and picked up a yellow one which was right next to it. "Yellow's not her color either Kiba." He sighed in her direction, "You don't even know who I'm buying a flower for, Ino. I could be buying it for you!"

Ino laughed. "Well you're a little off 'cause I've already been asked to the Autumn Festival and my favorite color _isn't_ yellow," she smiled. "Kiba, I put one rose aside for you, here," she handed him a white rose. Its petals were still curled inward; it had barely started to bloom.

He looked it over, it was simple. Beautiful but simple, _just like her_, he thought. He turned to Ino, "White? Her favorite color is white?" She smiled over at him. "Ino you are a lifesaver! Thanks a lot, how much for the flower?" he asked as he dug in his pocket for change. She held up her hands in protest, "It's on the house Kiba, now you get your butt out there and ask Hakashu San!" He bowed a thank you and ran out of the shop.

The morning sun shone through Kiba's bedroom blinds. His eyes shot open and he rolled over smiling brightly. "Today's the day!" he thought out loud. He threw the covers off and rolled onto the floor, almost crushing Akamaru in the process. "Sorry, boy. Hey, Akamaru, if Aki goes with me to the festival do you wanna see if I can get Shikana to hook up with you?" he winked. Akamaru barked in protest and crawled under the bed to get just a wink of sleep.

Kiba stood up and stretched. He pulled open his draws to change. _Alright,_ he thought,_ I don't want to look like a dork… _He settled for a pair of his old jeans that were pretty baggy on him and a Band T-Shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror. He almost never wore regular clothes, but he liked the way he looked in them. He thought it made him look "cool". Like the type of guy that girls would gawk over.

He shook his head violently to get rid of the "bed head" look and grabbed the small white rose before running out the door.

Aki yawned and stretched her arms upward toward the open sky. The warm morning sun stretched far across the Land of Fire. She had decided to sleep under the open stars that night. The dark night sky always reminded her of her family. Her father's black eyes and dark black hair would blend in to the night.

She walked back over to her shelter. She walked toward the front were her clothes were lying. She was about to pick them up when she heard a voice at the door. 

"Hey! Hakashu Sama? Are you home? I need to talk to you!" Aki froze. That was Kiba's voice.

She looked at what she was wearing. It was what she usually wore to bed, one of her fathers old shirts and underwear. _I CAN'T let Kiba Kun see me in this! _She thought franticly. "Coming!" she called. She ran to get some clothes on but to her dismay Kiba moved the piece of wood she was using as a door out of the way to enter.

Both ninja's froze. Kiba stared at Aki with a blank face. Aki stared back at him, her face full of embarrassment. _Keep eye contact_ he told himself. _Don't let your eyes drift ANYWHERE_. Kiba tried with all his might not to stare down at Aki's long, smooth, legs, but to no avail. His gaze drifted downward as he eyed her revealed thighs like they were candy. He shut his eyes. _Her eyes, focus on her eyes! _He opened his eyes to find himself staring just a few inches below her face.

Aki recoiled. _That PERVERT! Her face was flushed. _**"GET HIM OUT!!" **she squealed. "Oh…Shi-" he was cut of by the giant spider the hoped infront of him. Kiba turned and ran as fast as he could away from Aki's place.

Aki was furious. She would have punched him square in the face…if she didn't care about him. She pulled her clothes off the floor, still mumbling under her breath when something caught her eye. It was a plastic. She walked over to examine it. To her surprise it was a rose. It was wrapped in plastic wrap.

The rose was white and the petals were still tightly held together. Attached to the stem was a small card. _A little pig told me that your favorite color was white. You and me, Autumn Festival tonight?_


	11. The Festivities

Chapter 11

The Festivities

She looked at herself in the lake. Her reflection danced across the dull water. Her kimono was black and decorated with red designs. She had her long hair pulled up while her bangs hung in her face. Despite the fact she couldn't stand wearing it, she had on a thin layer of make up.

She sighed. "Kenji…he going to think I'm a jerk." Aki was still worried about going to see Kiba. Her actions that morning gave a strong indication that she wanted nothing to do with him. _Master, if you explain I'm sure dog boy will understand._

She summoned what little courage she had and picked up the white rose that she had received that morning. Its petals were still tightly clinging to each other. She picked it up and placed it in her hair before leaving to go to Kiba's house.

Her pace quickened with every thought of him. She found herself running through Konoha toward the Inuzuka Manor. She stood in front of the door, fingering the design. She breathed in sharply and knocked on the door.

He almost to sleep. He had felt horrible since that morning and thought that sleep would be the best thing for him. As the sun was beginning to set his slowly closed his eyes and his breathing became even.

Then a knock. A loud knocking on the front door of the Inuzuka Manor jogged him to earth and away from sleep. He rolled off the couch from shock and covered his face with a pillow. "Hello?" He heard his sister, Hana, answer the door. The voices were soft and barely audible since he was almost 2 rooms away.

"You want to see Kiba?" he heard his sister ask. _Who would want to see me? Maybe the Hokage needs me for a mission? At least it would give me something to do while everyone else in the village is having the time of their lives…_ "KIIIIIIIIIBAAAAA!! THEIR'S A GEISHA AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!!"

_A geisha? A geisha wants to talk to me?_ Confused as he was he got up and walked over to the door. His hair was once again in the "bed head" style and his clothes were all wrinkled.

The girl at the door smiled at his appearance. He cocked his head to the side as he looked over her, she looked familiar but he couldn't lay his finger on it… "Hello Inuzuka Kun. I just wanted to come by and well…apologize for what I did this morning, I didn't realize…Well anyway, if you're not too pissed at me, I would love to go to the Autumn Festival with you…"

It hit him like a hammer. This girl, this beautiful girl standing at his door, was the Aki Hakashu. He nodded excitedly and ran to change. He searched through his closet until he found his fathers old Kimono. He pulled it over his head and pulled on the pants. He looked at himself in the vanity before leaving his room and ran to meet Aki at the door.

The streets of Konoha were lined with paper lanterns and special decorations. The night was slowly creeping up into the Village Hidden in the Leaf. Kiba had Aki's arm linked with his.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around to see all his friends with their dates in their arms. "Hey Kiba!" Naruto smiled. Ino whipped around to face Gaara, "Gaara Kun, you wouldn't mind if we went and hung out, just us girls I mean?" Gaara shook his head, saying he wouldn't, Ino grabbed Hinata and Hinabi and dragged them away, the others followed.

Aki turned and mouthed the word sorry as she followed the rest.

Sasuke slapped Kiba's back. "Nice going Kiba, I thought you said you screwed up your chances?" Kiba told him the story, smiling the entire time. "Hey," Gaara stepped in. "It's almost 7:30, we need to start making our way to the stage."

Sand began to leak out of his gourd and make its way under the feet of the other male ninja's. Slowly they began to rise and float. The small sand island floated them over the crowds of people to the stage area where there was a large open dance floor. Gaara gently landed them on the floor and sucked his sand back up into the gourd.

"Well," Shikamaru said. "I guess all we can do now is wait for the girls to show up?"

Ino, Sakura, and Temari pulled the others back into a small alley way. "Hey," Ino started. "We were thinking of performing in the talent show! And Sakura, Temari and I were thinking that all of us should be in it!" Hinata touched her finger to her lip, to show she wasn't too sure. Her little sister however nodded happily.

"Are we going to sing in it?" she inquired. "Well," Sakura said. "We were thinking that maybe one of us could go up and represent all of us!" Ino frowned, "But who? I mean, its not like we all sound horrible but which of us sounds the best?"

Hinabi smiled, "Then let's see, here and now. Each of us takes a turn singing among us here and see which one is the best." Aki looked over Hinabi. She was only 11 but looked far older dressed in a silky red kimono, her hair let down her back with a large red rose perched over her right ear. Her personality was far from her older sisters. 

She loved to show people up, not only that but she was loud, she liked loud music and took total pride in all of her works and that of her sisters.

Hinabi seemed to be the only girl who wasn't completely enthralled with Sasuke Uchiha. But soon irony took over, Sasuke soon became wrapped around the young thin finger of Hyuga Hinabi. Dispite the age difference they had made their relationship work with almost complete ease.

Each took a turn singing a note or a song. Some were impressed others held back laughter for their friend's sake. When it came Aki's turn she attempted to refuse. _No!_ she thought. _I won't let them put me on stage and embarrass myself infront of Kiba Kun!_


	12. Little Miss Songbird

Chapter 12

Little Miss Songbird

Aki stood on the side of the stage. Within just a few minutes the stage had filled up with teenagers and young adults. The line for the talent show was incredibly long and Aki stood at the very end.

She rubbed her temples with her middle fingers. _I can't believe they talked me into this. I'm going to sound like an idiot in front of Kiba Kun…_ The line slowly inched forward as people walked on stage and preformed different talents. Not many were good in her opinion and apparently the audience felt the same. Aki looked up and realized to her dismay that she was next.

Kiba looked around. He hadn't seen Aki in 20 minutes and was worried sick. He asked the girls where she was, their only reply was a smirk and the same repeated phrase, "you'll know soon enough Kiba Kun".

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen!" a voice said from the stage. "We've all had the pleasure of seeing the talents that this village can offer us, but we still have one more talent to be seen!" Applause. "Please welcome our newest shinobi, it's her first time here at the Village of Leafs' Autumn Festival, so please welcome her gladly to the stage, Miss Aki Hakashu!"

More applause.

Kiba heard the introduction of someone onto the stage. He couldn't hear the name over the loud drawn out applause. He only saw a girl step onto the stage. A brilliantly bright spot light landed on her. He was near the side of the stage so it was hard to make out her face but he could tell that she was shaking she was so nervous.

She slowly walked forward and grabbed the microphone off the stand. She brought it to her lips.

She walked to the front. She looked at her hands, sweat was forming in her palms and she was shaking so much someone could have thought she was seizing.

She reached out and grabbed the microphone and eyed Kiba standing in the corner of the stage. She froze, _he's watching!_ She brought the microphone to her mouth and waited for the music to begin.

Strum the tune of your existence

And sing that you are here

A new journey is beginning now…

She could feel her throat going dry. _I can't believe they made me do this! _She looked down into the crowed to see if she could spot any of her friends. Her eyes led her to the right side of the stage. Kiba stared straight into her eyes, his mouth slightly open. She tensed up. _He's watching!_

_Oh my gosh…she can sing…_ Not that he didn't think she could sing, he just didn't see Aki as the type of girl who would sing. A smile began to spread across his face. Her singing wasn't good, it was amazing. He began to tap his foot to the beat.

She wouldn't stop staring at him, and out of courtesy and embarrassment, he stared back. Her bright green eyes reflected the light of the stage.

I wandered trying to find

Something precious that wouldn't change

Amid my ever changing memories

She started to feel a blush creeping up from under her pale skin. _Come on! I can do this; I'm almost done with the song..._ Her eyes locked onto Kiba's. _I never noticed,_ she thought to herself, _how relaxing his eyes are. _

Aki strolled over to Kiba with her small plastic trophy in-hand. He smiled at her. "Wow, I didn't know that you had pipes like that!" She ginned up at him, her loud green eyes clashing with his quiet reserved brown ones. He hugged her in congratulations.

She could feel the warmth and strength of his arms around her upper body and blushed. She gently pushed away from him and looked up. "So…ummm. Kiba – kun, would you like to dance?" He pondered it for a moment. No, not his answer, for his answer was an automatic yes, but the thought of her body being held against his. Sure he had just hugged her, but that wasn't anything. The thought of his hands against the small of her back gave him shivers, the kind that you enjoy.

"Sure," he said, trying not to scare her away. He placed his hands in the safety zone, her upper back, not wanting to make her feel awkward. She slowly, gently wrapped one thin arm around his neck and placed the other in his offered hand.

Slowly she let both of her hands slide down his neck and rest on his broad hard chest. Not know what to do with his now empty hand he rested them both on her hips and drew her closer to him.

"So, how are you liking Konoha" Kiba asked, attempting to start small talk. "I like it here, its much more fun than my previous village! The people are nicer too!" she beamed. Kiba asked her about how she felt about the autumn festival, she said she loved it, that she was having fun.

"Aki" he said breathing heavily. "I'm glad that you came to my village." He was so nervous he felt like he would cry. "I've never met a girl quite like you. You're strong, confident, smart, and sweet, and on top of that, you look absolutely stunning all the time…"

She gently pulled his head downward so that his ear was right next to her lips. "I'm glad I came here too Kiba. Otherwise, I would never have gotten such an awesome plastic trophy", she whispered, grinning. He lifted his head and rested his forehead against hers. His nose brushed past hers.

"And, if I had never come here, I would never get to do this…" She slowly brought his lips toward hers. He could feel the softness of her lips brush past his, a shot of heat ran from his toes up his spine.

A thick drop of water hit Aki's cheek. She quickly drew back and wiped it away, but the look she had before was gone, replaced with a wide-eyed expression that a kid gets when they watch a horror film. Water began to fall more quickly. Kiba saw her face go pale as she was showered with water. He had to practically drag her out of the falling rain. Kiba didn't live too far away and decided to take her to his place.

He let her rest on his front porch. Her hair was soaked, as well as her kimono. Her hair hug in front of her face, stringy. But she still looked beautiful.

"So, do you want to go into my place?" Aki grinned and raised her eyebrow. _Stupid stupid stupid! Be smart!_ "What I mean is, like, to dry off, and hang out there?" She nodded.


	13. Why

Chapter 13

Why

Kiba led her through the hallway toward the living quarters. Searching through his closet to find something, anything that Aki could wear. He managed to find an old pair of shorts that he hadn't worn in years and an oversized shirt.

Aki emerged from the bathroom wearing what Kiba had offered. The shirt hung down by her knees and she had to hold the shorts up by the waist-line. "Wow Aki, that look suits you" he laughed. Her hair hung by the bottom of her thighs, which made her appear like a homeless girl.

She released her grip on the waist of the shorts and let them fall around her ankles. She left them in Kiba's lap and began to walk toward the back door. "Aki, where are you going?" he called after her after the initial shock of her pulling off the shorts had subsided.

She slid the paper door open to reveal the small back porch and a small yard. To her displeasure the rain had not stopped, but only gotten worse. She knelt down on the wooden veranda and stared out at the rain. Kiba sat next to her, he could see the focus in her eyes as they darted from rain drop to rain drop.

"Why don't you like it?" She looked at him with a confused face. "The rain I mean. How come you don't like rain?" She looked down at her fingers. It looked like she was contemplating something, then she spoke. "Kiba, if I tell you this, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone else." He slowly nodded.

Aki inhaled slowly then looked at Kiba. Her eyes didn't have their normal shimmer to them. They were the color of unwatered grass. "Alright then. Here it goes."

A/N:

Sorry it's so short. I've been trying to work on it today but its storming like crazy! But no worries! The next chapter should be done by tonight. Oh before I forget! I would like to send a shout out to those who have reviewed my work and favored it. THANKS I HEART YOU ALL!!


	14. A Few Secrets

Chapter 14

A Few Secrets…

She looked out into the back yard. "Kiba-kun…from the time I was born until I was about 3, I was tortured." **"WHAT?!"** It was difficult for Kiba to register what Aki had just murmured. She wrapped her arms around herself and continued to look out at the falling rain.

"I don't know my real parents specifically, but I know that they both came from the same clan" she said in a whisper. "Wait…so your parents… they were related??" She nodded. "Then how are you normal?" _Wrong choice of words you idiot!_

She smiled at him. "It's okay Kiba. But really, I don't know how I didn't turn out completely mutated or something. Ya see, my clan started to dwindle; they wanted to keep the clan purebred. So they did the unthinkable. By committing incest they thought that the bloodline would stay pure. The fact that I was born without any mutations, makes me a medical mystery. That is why the doctors held me and experimented on me."

Kiba thought it best that he keep his mouth shut at this point and simply nodded. "I was really little but I remember that place still. The coldness of the metal table I was strapped to 24/7. I remember the needles that they stabbed me with. Sometimes to run tests, other times because I wouldn't stop screaming or crying." She heard him inhale sharply.

"When I would put up a fight, they would inject something into me, it hurt so badly. It was agonizing, I wanted to scream, but if I did they would give me a bigger dose…" she could hear her voice start to crack. Tears began to spill out of her eyes. "They wouldn't let me eat anything for weeks and when they did they just injected it into my body. I didn't have a solid piece of food until I was 4" she said to herself now. She sobbed quietly, embarrassed at how she had lost it infront of Kiba.

She was so focused on the sound of herself crying she almost jumped when she felt something warm wrap around her body. Two long arms were wrapped around her, one at her waist the other her head. Kiba held her against him as if his life depended on it. She burrowed her face into his neck and slowly started to catch her breath.

Kiba was moved by what he had heard. He could only imagine how hard it was for Aki to keep a smile on her face each day. He realized that the simplest things, such as needles or rain could bring her horrible memories back to her. But through it all, she managed to be happy, to be strong. And she managed to be a strong dependable kunoichi and a loyal friend.

Once she had collected herself, she continued. But this time she stayed in Kiba's arms. "I remember one day in particular while I was in that prison. It was February 21. I was four."

"What happened on February 21?"

She stopped and inhaled slowly. Kiba gently stroked her soft cheek with his rough knuckle.

"I was rescued. I remember the date because it was one of my free days. I got one once a month. They thought that keeping locked up forever was 'inhumane' so they let me walk around in a greenhouse for 1 hour once a month. Of course, they didn't want me to get infected, since my immune system was crap thanks to all the stuff they injected into me. So they locked me in a kind of coffin, and rolled me about two miles until I was 'safely transported into the correct facility'. But I didn't make it to the greenhouse that day. The lab was attacked."

Kiba listened intently. Her life was more than he could have imagined. Like something he read in a novel. It was hard to think that someone survived through all of it. She stopped talking. For a long period there was silence. Kiba knew their conversation was over. She gently pushed against him, creating a little distance between them.

He stared at her intently. The flare in Aki's green eyes had returned. She stood and stared at the grass, which was now soaked. The rain had stopped and the ground was mush. Kiba slowly walked over to her, not wanting the moment to be over, _their_ moment to be over.

He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers into hers. "Aki Hakashu, I vow, that as long as I live, I will protect you. Whether it is against the rain," he stopped at this point and gently kissed her fingers. "Or against an army." She smiled up at him, the way she had hours before at the Autumn Festival.

Now Aki advanced toward Kiba. Her hands slowly rose toward him and let them rest against his chest. His hands moved on impulse. They lightly landed on Aki's cheeks. This time they both advanced toward each other. Aki's lips brushed past Kiba's and he could feel his insides start dancing. Kiba pressed his lips against Aki's and let the effect take place. Aki could feel her heart jump to her throat and begin beating faster. Her muscles tightened and her chest rose.

She could feel something penetrating through her lips. Slightly Aki opened her mouth and she could feel Kiba's tongue slowly work its way into her mouth. She had to struggle to keep from giggling with giddy as his tongue brushed slightly past hers. And finally she pulled away.

_A/N:_

_I KNOW IM GONNA GET MESSAGES ABOUT THE WHOLE MAKING OUT SCENE BUT I'M SORRY! IT HAD TO BE DONE! I'M SORRY TO ANYONE WHO GOT CREEPED OUT BY THAT WHOLE THING BUT I PROMISE YOU, THERE WON'T BE ANYMORE "INTIMATE" SCENE. Oh and no I'm NOT writing a sex scene into my fanfiction. I do believe there is a line where class clashes with smut. Not to mention I'm a teenager. So there probably wont be anymore kissing scene or anything else like that, but if there are, I can promise you that I won't go into detail with them like I did this one._

_-Megumi Tsukazu_


	15. Good Old Blackmail

Chapter 15

Good Old Fashioned BlackMail

It was early, maybe four o'clock. The stars still shown brightly. Itachi looked over Konoha with a grin smeared across his face. In his hand he held a small scroll, which inside, requested the aid of five of the best chunin in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"Do you really think it will work Itachi?" Kisame asked. Itachi switched his gaze over to his comrade. "It'll have to Kisame. Deidara, it's your time to shine. You know what to do." A grin shone from under his long blond bang. He reached into her cloak pocket and brought out a small ball of clay. Within seconds he had formed a small pigeon.

The bird moved and twittered (or whatever noise birds make .). Deidara gently tied the scroll to its leg and sent it off. "Now what" he asked of Itachi. "We wait…Deidara, run back for Sasori, will you? He'll want to be here for _this_ battle." Deidara politely inclined his head and ran back into the brush. "Are you up for this Kisame?" Itachi asked without looking toward him. Kisame nodded outwardly, but inwardly he was thinking the worst.

The warmth of the sun on his face woke Kiba from his deep sleep. He was sleeping on his back, which he normally didn't do. He looked down to see Aki wrapped in his arms, using his chest as a pillow. Her long hair trailed down her back and landed in a piled by her mid thigh. He gently stroked it, making sure not to wake her.

He was still dressed in the Kimono from the night before, and she was still in nothing but his oversized shirt. The sun danced across Aki's pale skin making her look as if she were glowing.

They lay in the middle of the living quarters of the guest building in the Inuzuka Manor. He contemplated on the night before. It was like magic. The whole night flashed through his mind but it always went back to the moment. _Their_ moment. On the back veranda, both of them staring out into the pouring rain, the moon caking the earth in a dull light. It was a quick moment, almost nonexistent. But to him, it was the longest ten minutes of his life. In that small time frame something had hit him. Hit him like a train going full speed down a long endless track. He loved her. The girl that he had met by wicked chance, who had tried to kill him, who had yelled at him for being late on their first date, the girl who would have surely ripped off his groin and staked it for walking in on her 

changing, was the girl that he loved. He was sure of it. And it wasn't just because of the kiss. He'd kissed girls previous to Aki. Hinata and Ino were among them. But even though he'd felt something for Hinata, it could barely compare to what he felt for Aki Hakashu.

He felt her stir underneath his arm. He looked down at her to see that her eyes were squinting because of the brightness of the sun. He smiled down at her, "Good morning sunshine!" Her only response was her rolling over and drifting back into sleep. He knew it was probably close to nine o'clock, which meant that they had to get up and report to the Hokage, which was the norm after every Autumn Festival.

"Aki, wake up." No response. He gently stroked her cheek. "Love, wake up now. It's late." Still no response. This time he nuzzled her neck. He could smell the perfume still flowing off of her body. She rolled over and looked at him. Slowly a smile spread across her mouth. "Good morning, spoilsport," she said to him lazily. "What time is it?" "Time for us to wake up."

She rolled off of him and onto the floor, where she laid for a little while longer. Kiba leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Get up, Aki. We have to report to the hokage at 9:30." She pushed herself off the floor and slowly stood up. Kiba led her through the Inuzuka manor toward the main house.

He slid the paper door open and waited for Aki to step inside, but she didn't. She stood at the threshold, frozen. Kiba looked inside and to his dismay found someone waiting for him.

"Well hello Kiba-kun…and friend." Kiba felt his blood run thin as he stared down at the woman sitting cross legged on the floor before him, with Aki's crumpled Kimono in her lap. She was awkwardly tall, and barely looked like Kiba. The only way Aki's knew they were of some relation towards each other was their eyes and their tattoos. Her hair was much darker than Kiba's, almost black. She had a thin mouth and short hair.

"H-H-Hana…"he choked out. She smiled up at him and stood up. She towered over them both. "Well, won't mom be excited when she hears about _this_." Aki sighed in relief to find out that it wasn't Kiba's mother who they had encountered. "Imagine my surprise when I see two pairs of shoes at the entrances. And then to find this wonderful garment spilled ever so carelessly upon the floor." She held out Aki's kimono, which she ripped out of Hana's hands.

"Nothing happened! Aki just didn't have a place to stay, so I let her spend the night!" Kiba said in their defense. Hana just grinned evily. "Oh, and I'm sure 

that's true. But wouldn't it be a shame if mom and dad didn't hear the story correctly?" Kiba rolled his eyes, "What do you want?" Her eyes shone bright. "You can take care of my chores for the next two months!" Kiba reluctantly agreed.

Aki, who was still a bit confused at who they were encountering quickly grew fed up with her. They way they were acting it was like they were siblings…Kiba led Aki out of the room toward his bedroom. "Sorry about that. That was Hana, my older sister" he grimaced. He searched through his drawers to find his usual "ninja" clothes and carried them with him toward the bathroom. "You can change in here, if we're fast we'll have time to stop at your place and get you some real clothes."


	16. New Mission: Protect the Princesses

Chapter 16

New Mission:

Protect the Princesses

Aki ran into her (ahem) house (XD) and jumped onto Kenji. _Where have you been master!? I've been waiting for you to come home!!_ "Kenji, you can scold me later, I need clothes fast." Kenji reluctantly agreed and quickly fixed her with silk shorts and crop top. She darted a look back at Kiba who smiled at her. "One moment please Kiba, I've got to change." She made a few hand signs and ran her hand across the empty space separating Kiba and Aki.

As she moved her hand across the space, she disappeared, as well did Kenji. "Aki?" he called out. "Hold on!" he heard her call back. And within seconds she reappeared. She hollered a thanks to Kenji and grabbed Kiba's hand and pulled him toward Hokage's mansion.

"How did you do that Aki?" he asked amazed. "I have a special kekei genkei. I have the ability to bend air to my will. Which means I can manipulate anything with air in it. That's another reason why they kept me at the prison for so long." It took him a minute to register that by 'they' she meant the doctors and by 'prison' she meant the testing facility. "I didn't know you had a kekei genkei Aki" he said, half to himself. She stopped walking and looked back at him and laughed. "Kiba, just because we spend one night together doesn't mean you know everything about me." WHAM! Owned. He felt like an idiot. Just because she told him about her past didn't mean he now had a rolodex of fun facts about Aki Hakashu.

He looked down, embarrassed. Aki lifted his face toward hers; she had a smirk on her face. "But we'll work on that" she said giving him a quick kiss on his mouth. He grinned at her and grabbed her hand and continued walking.

All eyes were on the new couple when they walked through the door of the Hokage's office. "Kiba, Aki, get in and sit down!" Tsunade's voice boomed through their bodies, making their innards churn.

Kiba looked around the room before taking a seat. There were a few other chunin in the room: Neji, Naruto, and Rock lee. "We have a new mission. You five are to escort our four princesses across the land of fire to the outskirts of land of wind, where they will be received."

"Lady Hokage," Neji interrupted. "If we are only to escort them, why are you making such a big deal out of it, like it's a high level mission?" She grinned. "Well the princesses claimed that their temporary home was broken into, they wish for ninja escorts to protect them. In reality it's just a level B mission, but I will obey their wishes."

"You leave at five, this evening. You have from now until then to pack for your voyage." Naruto chimed in, "So is Neji leading the mission Gradma?" She pointed a long finger at Aki. The movement was so sudden she jumped. "No, actually Aki will be the leader of the mission. That is all."

"Hey Kiba! Wait up!" Kiba turned to see Naruto and Rock lee running towards him and Aki. He leaned over towards Aki and whispered something into her ear. "Aki, you'd probably better go pack. I'll meet you back at you place around 4:30, okay?" She smiled in reply. "Alright, love." She slowly walked away making sure to shake her backside as she walked away, making sure he'd stare as she walked. Her attempt succeeded.

Naruto jumped onto Kiba's back, making the brown eyed ninja fall to the ground. "NARUTO! GET OFF!!" "Hehe, I say you walk in with Aki clinging to your arm. AND I saw her go home with you last night. Care to explane?"

Kiba felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Did Aki want anyone to know about them? Better question, were they even together? Neither of them had made it clear, though it was obvious they both were very fond of each other, VERY fond. "It's none of your business Naruto, now go away; you need to pack for the mission and so do I. I'll see you later."

They all met at the village gate, where they were to meet the princesses. Aki was the last one to show up. "Alright, this is going to be a pretty easy mission, so I don't think there's a lot to say. When the princesses arrive, I'll create stations for you."

Almost on cue a small carriage pulled by a horse rounded the corner and parked itself next to them. "Wow…somebody is trapped in the 18th century," Naruto whispered into Kiba's ear. The man directing the horse hopped off and placed the reins into Kiba's hands and slightly opened to door to the carriage. "Princesses, you may stretch your legs. I am passing you off to the Konoha ninjas."

Aki saw a set of fingers clasp onto the door and push it open gently. Four girls walked out of the carriage and lined up next to each other. The oldest looked about 17. The next youngest looked just a little younger than her, about 

15. The two youngest were twin sisters, about 12. Aki couldn't put her finger on it but something about them aggravated her. Maybe it was the way they walked like they were made of glass, or just their faces. Each of them had makeup caked onto their face.

"I am Aki Hakashu, I will be the leader of this mission and you can feel free to talk to me anytime. We will be accompanied by these four ninja, Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga, Rocklee, and Naruto Uzumaki." The Princesses smiled in return.

The oldest stepped forward. "I am Princess Mine. These are my sisters, Kasai, and my twin sisters Yuki and Suki." Aki smiled at them. "Well we'll be taking off in about five minutes." Princess Mine thanked her and loaded herself and her sisters into the coach.

"Alright, Lee, I want you to lead the coach. You know how to ride a horse right?" He nodded in response. She turned her attention to Neji, "Neji-Sama, I would like you to be located in the back. And Naruto, you'll be stationed on the right side of the coach, Kiba, on the left. That leaves me with nothing to do, so I'll just sit on top of the coach, so you'll be able to reach me."

Everyone got into their positions as they were about to take off. Kiba hopped onto the coach where Aki was sitting cross-legged picking her fingernails. "Hey! What's up?" She smiled over at him, "Kiba-kun, I need to talk to you. During this mission, I want to keep this on the down low." Kiba tilted his head to the side. _What is she talking about?_ Aki rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "Us, you and me. We need to stay on the down low, got it? I don't want it getting in the way of our mission. Alright?" He nodded at her. "Wait…so does this mean we're like…going out?" She laughed and nodded. Kiba's face went red and fell backward off of the coach roof. Aki looked over the edge to see Kiba lying on his back in the dirt below. She managed a small giggle before shouting "lets move out!"


	17. Fire Get What Fire Want

Chapter 17

Fire get what Fire Want

They had been walked for about four hours. It was almost nine o'clock when Aki let the group stop for the night. Neji and Lee started pitching tents. Kiba and Aki had gone into the surrounding woods to search for firewood. "It looks like your taking on your role as leader seriously," Kiba said from a few feet behind her. Aki turned and smiled, "Of course, is there any other way?" "Leadership suits you," he said bending over to pick up a few sticks. He turned around to see 3 small log pyramids hovering over Aki's head.

Back at the campsite Lee was making sure that the horse that had been pulling the coach was in good health, Neji was passing bento boxes out to the princesses and his comrades. Naruto was fast asleep in his tent and Kiba was attempting with all his might to light a fire using a flint. The weather was awkwardly hot for the middle of fall. Humid as well.

It was so hot in this section of the woods, Neji, Lee, Naruto, and Kiba had all stripped down to their pants. Aki watched from the sidelines as Kiba, shirtless, struggled to light a fire with the flint. Aki had a smirk on her face as she focused on the tightening of his muscles every time his attempts failed. He looked up and met her eyes. "You think it's so easy, then let's see you do it Miss Sunshine" he joked. Aki strolled over to the fire pit, "Secret Jutsu: Air Manipulation." A small ball of fire appeared in her hand and she lowered it toward the firewood which quickly caught. Kiba smiled at her, "Cheater." He handed her a bento box and they both sat down with Lee and Neji to eat.

Kasai opened the flap of her and her sisters' tent. He looked over at Kiba who sat smiling and laughing with the other ninja. It seemed to her that he was getting along quite well with Aki. "Mine, what would you say if I made a move for one of our escorts?" Her older sister walked toward her and looked over at the ninja. "You know what we must do. If you want to attach yourself to one of the ninja, it will just make our job harder, but be my guest."

Mine's sister smiled at her. "Oh I just think that Mister Inuzuka is incredibly cute. So don't worry Mine, nothing more than the physical being." Mine rolled her eyes and walked away mumbling. Kasai gently closed the flap to the tent. She had a smirk wiped across her face.

After dinner Aki volunteered to be on watch for the first shift. All the other ninja were fast asleep in their tents. Aki was alone, save for Kenji. "Miss Hakashu," 

Aki whipped around to see Princess Kasai standing a few feet behind her. "Princess, it's late. You should be getting to bed." In reality, Aki didn't want to be around any of the princesses. Something about them didn't seem right. Not to mention she had seen Kasai checking Kiba out during dinner.

"Miss Hakashu, I just thought I should inform you, you should start watching your back." Aki stood up and looked at the princess. Aki's green eyes were on fire, they were burning holes into Kasai's. "Excuse me? Do you wish to run that by me again, _Princess?_" To Aki's surprise Kasai glared at her through ruby colored eyes.

"I saw you talking up Inuzuka. You _will not_ do that again, understood? If I see you as much as looking at Kiba I'll make you the most humiliated person that this side of the world has ever seen!" Aki couldn't believe her ears. _This…this…this Barbie doll is trying to threaten me?! She's trying to steal Kiba?!_ "Kiba is my friend! I will do with him what I please. And F.Y.I, I could care less about my reputation, but you will not threaten me or I swear I will leave you here in the woods, got it, _Kasai?"_

Aki could tell that the princess was struggling not to send her hand flying across Aki's face. "You will do as I say. It's not like you two are dating, right? So he's fair game! And if you do interfere, there will be hell to pay!" Kasai turned on her heel and walked back into the tent. Aki's face was white with fury. She heard Kenji cooing behind her. "It's okay, Kenj. I'll be fine. I know that Kiba cares about me. He's not going to fall victim to that _skank_."


	18. Fire Wins

Chapter 18

Fire Wins

It was late. Er…early. Maybe around three. He rolled over, he was sure he heard it this time. Kiba had been hearing breathing outside of his tent for the past few hours. The flap of his tent opened and closed. He was sure someone was there.

He rolled over and opened his eyes. He could see the silhouette of whoever had entered his tent. It was a girl. He could see her long hair and the small of her waist. "Aki?" he asked in a tired voice. She said nothing. "Aki, you know you can't be in here. So, no offence or anything, but you have to get out."

She looked down at her hands, as if disappointed. "Hey, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. But it's just the rules, you can't be in here." She crawled toward him on her hands and knees. He scooted back a little, to keep distance. "Aki, seriously, you need to leave. This is me asking now. Please get ou-" he was cut off by her lips. The force of her kiss made Kiba fall backwards. _What is she doing?! Has she gone completely insane?!_

At that exact moment, the worst thing possible happened. His tent flap flew open and he saw the last person he wanted to. "Hey, Kiba-Kun, I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me…" the voice trailed off. Eyes of emerald stared back at him. "Uh…Aki…What are you doing awake?" he asked. He could see tears begin to overflow onto her cheeks.

With the moonlight from outside he could see the face hovering above him. "Well then Kiba, I hope you and the princess have a wonderful wonderful night together. Call me when you're done, will you?" she asked, her voice breaking. She threw the tent flap down and ran in the opposite direction.

_A/N_

_Once again, sorry it's such a short chapter. But I am a fast writer, so the next chapter will probably be out by tonight, if not by tomorrow afternoon. Thanks to all those who have been reviewing my work. You guys are awesome. I heart you all!!_

_-Megumi Tsukazu_


	19. Their First Fight

Chapter 19

Their First Fight

The group continued on foot. To make matters worse, someone had stolen the carriage and horse that night. "We are princesses! We shouldn't have to walk!" Aki was ahead of everyone, riding Kenji's back. She hadn't said a word to anyone all morning, and she hadn't even exchanged glances with Kiba.

Kasai ran ahead and hoped onto Kenji's back. Aki whipped around and glared at her. "Get off…of my spider." "I'm royalty; I'm not going to walk! It's hot out here!" Aki balled her fist and punched the air to her right. Air shot out of her fist and into the wooded air. As far as they could see the trees to her right were all uprooted. All heads slowly turned toward Aki. "Get off of my spider, **now**. You can use that pathetic fan of your to keep the sun away, but you will not touch Kenji." Kasai hoped off.

They walked for a few more miles when Aki felt a small drizzle coming on. She stopped walked. Her eyes grew wide as the water began to fall harder. "There's a cave up ahead! Neji, Naruto, Lee, take the princesses and head for the cave. I'll follow up behind up you guys!"

Aki stood frozen. A tree beside her was struck by lightning and caught fire. _Master! Master, we must go! Hurry!_ Kenji couldn't grab his master without having to dig his fangs into her flesh. The tree slowly started to fall. Aki was in direct range of the impact. Something wrapped around her waist and pulled her forward, just in time to dodge the fall. She landed in a puddle of mud. Next to her was Kiba struggling to pick her up and carry her to the opening of the cave.

Once they were in the cave Aki pushed herself away from him. "Don't touch me!" She stumbled deeper into the cave. "Aki, let me help you," he whispered. "NO! I don't need your help!"

Aki walked along the wall deeper until she saw the rest of the group. The ground started to rumble and shake. She turned in time to see the entrance to the cave be taken over by a rock slide. They were trapped. Not only were they now trapped, but they were in the dark. "Air Manipulation," a large ball of fire appeared in her hands. "Alright, let's just walk forward until we find an exit."

"Hey, Kiba, what was that jutsu that Aki used?" Naruto inquired. Kiba stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Her kekkei genkai. She can manipulate air." Neji stopped. "I didn't know she had a kekkei genkai." "I didn't know she was that powerful," Kiba admitted.

They walked further into the cave, searching for any way out. They came to a clearing after about another hour. It was like an air pocket. It was a few hundred feet wide as well as long. There were already lit lanterns hanging from the walls. "Why hello," a voice echoed through the cave. Aki turned to see who had entered. She caught her breath and clutched her chest.

"Long time no see." The voice had come from a tall figure wearing a black cloak. He had long black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He had dark, black looking eyes. He had three other people standing beside him. Neji glared at them. Aki froze. She heard Naruto inhale sharply, "Itachi…"


	20. The Truth

Chapter 20

The Truth

"Hmm?" he said lazily. Itachi covered his mouth in a fake yawn. "Why are you here?! I thought you stopped chasing me a long time ago!" Naruto said, almost yelling. Naruto had encountered all four of the Akatsuki members that stood before him. Itachi and Kisame had been chasing after him, in hopes of using the Ninetailed Fox Spirit inside of him when he was 13. Since then he had met Deidara and Sasori in an attempt on Gaara's life.

The princesses ran forward to the Akatsuki members. "What?" Aki whispered to nobody in particular. "They were on your side the entire time? They led us here, as a trap?" Kisame nodded, his eyes averted to the ground, refusing to meet Aki's.

"Itachi-kun! Did we do good?" Mine asked smiling. "Yes, you can leave us now, Mine" he replied, cringing. Her smile flipped to a frown. She looked as if someone had knocked the wind out of her body. "But, Itachi-kun, you said if I did as I was told, you and I could go away together!"

He rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed with her. "I said LEAVE!" She began sobbing lightly, "You lied to me, Itachi-kun?" He held out his arm and ran his fingernails across the smooth soft skin of her neck, cutting her jugular. Red crimson liquid ran down her long neck and onto the silk Kimono she was wearing. She tumbled to the floor like a ragdoll. Her eyes were wide as the last bit of life drained from her body.

"Mine!!" Her sisters ran forward, sobbing. "You killed our sister!" Kasai cried. Itachi wiped the blood that trickled down his hand onto his cloak, "I see that, you silly little girl. Now get out before I do the same to the rest of you!" Kasai jumped slightly and began to back away. She grabbed the hands of her younger sisters and led them down a small walkway on the other side of the cave.

"You monster! Do you want my chakra? Then come get it," Naruto growled. Deidara chuckled, "You idiot, don't you get it? We aren't here for you!" Naruto inhaled deeply, "That doesn't mean I won't hurt you though." He started to run towards the four men but was stopped by Aki, who grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Naruto, no. This isn't your fight. I'll take them, you four just run ahead, go to the village, alert Lady Tsunade" she stared at him blankly as she gave him 

instructions. Nobody moved. Accepting the fact that her fellow ninja weren't going to abandon her, she began to walk forward. This time a hand wrapped around her elbow, stopping her. "Aki, no! Don't they'll kill you if you try by yourself!" Kiba said, attempting to convince her otherwise. "It doesn't matter, I'm the mission leader and I'm telling you to stay out of it," she retorted meekly.

"You can't expect me to just stand here and watch you offer yourself up to the enemy!" He felt a stinging on his cheek. He lifted his hand to it, it was red and hot. Aki's hand had struck him, and hard. "I expect you to do as I tell you! You will stand there and not move understood?! That's an order!" Her voice was starting to crack. It was the first time since the tent incident that she had looked him in the eyes. He knew full well that she had business with these people from the way she was acting. But he knew that they could take her out within seconds, he simply wasn't going to let Aki walk into the suicide trap.

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Aki, you know I'm not one for following orders. Akamaru? You ready?" The small dog gave a bark. "Alright then. Man Beast Clone: Fang Over Fang!" Akamaru transformed into Kiba and they both began to spin uncontrollably, they both were aimed straight for Itachi. The leader of the small group smirked and spun in a small circle. Once he had completed his 360 degree turn, he had caught both Kiba and Akamaru in his hands. _He's fast!_ Itachi threw Akamaru, who had turned back into a dog, across the cave and clutched Kiba by his neck.

"Kiba!!" Aki gasped. _C-c-can't breath…_ he thought to himself. "Aki…" he chocked. "don't worry about me. I'll be okay…" _Not if I don't get him to let me down._ "Itachi, let him go! Please?!" she cried. He grinned. "So you're going by 'Aki' now?" He dropped Kiba on the ground. "Sasori, make sure that dog boy doesn't move?"

"What are you talking about? Aki is her name" Lee thought out loud. "Ha! Nice going Kou, you lied to all these people? I thought these were your friends." She ground her teeth in anger. "You think you know 'Aki', Dog Boy? You don't know the first thing about her. "Shut up!" Aki said fiercely.

"What are you talking about? Her name is Aki Hakashu, she's from the Village Hidden in the Grass. She's the last surviving member of her original clan!" Kiba shouted from the floor. "Wrong! I'll tell you about little miss 'Hakashu'. I bet she didn't tell you that by the time she was four she had already killed a man." Itachi shouted into his face. "Itachi, stop!" she pleaded. "Did you know that by the time she was 5 ½ she was a hired assassin? How about at the age of 6 she was a member of Akatsuki?"

"Shut the hell up!" Itachi frowned. "I'll take that as she didn't tell you about all that." Kiba looked at Aki. "He's lying! Tell him he's a liar, Aki!" She looked to the floor. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. "Ahhh…See, I wasn't lying," Itachi smiled. Kiba stared into Aki's face for any answer. He saw none. "He's telling the truth…isn't he Aki?" She nodded. "Her name isn't Aki Hakashu! She isn't from the Grass!" Aki drew a kunai and threw it in anger, she missed. "Shut up! Stop it!"

"She was born in the Sound! When she was 10 she received her very own curse mark. And her real name is Kousetsu!" Kiba's breath sped up. He started sweating. "That's not true!" he said unsure of himself. Itachi lifted him off the floor by his neck again, but not too hard. "It IS true! And she is going to tell you!" Aki covered her mouth and shook her head. _No…nooooo…_ "Tell him!! Tell him, Kou!" He tightened his grip on Kiba's neck. Small lines of blood fell from his neck where Itachi dug his nails into Kiba's flesh.

"Tell him or he dies!" Itachi's face was bright red with fury. "Itachi…you should calm down," Kisame placed a hand on his friends shoulder. Itachi shot a warning glare at Kisame and he immediately moved his hand. "Kou, you have until the count of five. One…" _Tell…do it…Kiba will die! Master tell them!,_ Kenji pleaded. _Master Kousetsu, tell them quick!_

"THREE!" "Stop it! Please!!" Aki cried to Itachi. Brushing it off, Itachi continued his count, "FOUR!" Aki threw herself to Itachi's feet. "It's true! It's all true!! Everything he said, it's true! Just please, don't hurt Kiba……Father, please don't hurt him."

_A/N_

_Dramatic Music PLOT TWIST!! Shocking huh? I've been waiting for this scene for MONTHS! I decided on this way before it ever occurred to me to post Black Widow on . :D Don't you just love stuff like this?!_

_-Megumi Tsukazu_


	21. Poisoned Tongue

Chapter 21

Poisoned Tongue

"Father please…don't," Kousetsu cried. "FATHER?!" Kiba shouted from the Itachi's grip. Tears pored out of her eyes. Itachi released Kiba and glared at him then at Kousetsu. "Finally…I'll be able to use you as I had originally planned" he said to nobody in particular. "Let me ask you something, Itachi…" Kiba said, gently massaging his bruised throat. "Why Ak…Kousetsu?" he quickly corrected himself. "Why her? Of all the people why here?"

Itachi bend down at an angle and stared Kiba in the eye. "Because Kousetsu is the ultimate weapon. She has something that nobody else has!" "And what's that?" Neji asked grimacing. Deidara grinned. "That little brat's got unlimited chakra! She has the ultimate defense and offence packed into one, she can manipulate air!" Kousetsu shot a glare at the blond Akatsuki member.

"Not just air…But anything that has air in it. On a large scale, you think the basics: water, soil, fire, air itself. But on a much smaller scale, she can manipulate** anything**." Neji stopped. "She can do exactly what I do. She destroys her opponent from the inside out." "Correct…" Sasori said, shocking everyone. "She can stop the blood flow in your body, using the same principle you use your byakugan. Poking points in your body, only she can send sound wave through it, destroying your organs to kill you slowly. She can manipulate blood as well…freeze it and stop blood flow completely or block blood from a certain part of the body."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "And since she can manipulate air and anything with air in it, she's unstoppable!" Itachi grinned. To everyone's surprise Kousetsu rose on her knees and held her arms out infront of her, palms up. It hit Kiba, _she's sacrificing herself, for us, for our wellbeing…_

"Take me…please, just don't hurt my friends." Kisame's eyes burst with panic. He looked from Kou to Itachi who had a smirk across his face. _He's going to kill her! I have to do something!_ He was frozen with fear. "You really think it's gonna be that easy? Ima make things complicated." He closed his eyes. It looked as if he were dreaming. Kousetsu cocked her head in confusion then her eyes went wide. She knew what he was going to do. "Poisoned Tongue Jutsu!"

He thrust his fingers at the front of her neck. Her mouth opened on its own. A white gas like substance flowed from his finger tips and enveloped her neck and mouth. Her eyes darted around the room. She saw Lee try to make a run to 

stop the jutsu but was stopped by Sasori. Her eyes then fell on Kiba, who watched, his jaw on the floor. She was released from the jutsu. She looked up at her father for a slip second before her eyes went wide and she puked onto the floor.

Red liquid that Kiba recognized as blood fell from Kousetsu mouth. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, she clutched her head in her hands. "MAKE IT STOP!! MAKE IT STOP PLEASE!" She puked again. Her throat burned. Her body felt as if it were being crushed. The pain was hard to describe or pinpoint, but that was the effect of poisoned tongue.

She clutched her body and rolled around the cave floor, trying desperately to make the pain stop. Blood began to ooze from her nose and eyes. She crawled over to Itachi. "Dad, please make it stop!" She gripped the end of his cloak. It's soft silk was straining in her fingers. Itachi smiled at her. She sobbed harder. "DADDY! DADDY PLEASE STOP IT!! SAVE ME DADDY! SAVE ME!!" Kiba felt tears coming. The sight was more than anything he'd ever seen.

Kousetsu dropped her father's cloak and switched to Kisame's. "Uncle…Uncle Kisa…please make it stop!! It hurts! It hurts everywhere!! Please Uncle Kisa!" Kisame realized that he was too crying. _Kou…I'm sorry._ He knelt down and cupped her cheek in his blue clammy hand and looked into her bright green eyes. "There's nothing I can do, I'm sorry." She looked around wildly. "Uncle Deidara? Puppet Uncle? Daddy?...Kiba? "SOMEBODY MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOP!!"

She fell to the floor in a pile. Itachi grinned. "Itachi! What have you done?!" Kisame asked outraged. "Don't fool anyone Kisame, you stood there and did nothing to save your said favorite niece." Kou slowly opened her eyes. Kiba looked into them. They were filled with pain. Blood slowly stopped flowing out of her eyes and nose. Her eyes began to lighten. They changed from bright green to blinding white. "Aki? Er…Kousetsu? Are you alright?" he asked. Her hair also began to change. From the roots, her hair changed from black to blinding white to match her eyes.

Deidara poked Itachi's shoulder panicking. "The spider! Itachi, you woke up Hatori!" Itachi got a look of panic in his eyes as well as Kisame and Sasori. "Sasori! Grab one of your puppets, the rest of you, get ready for a fight" Itachi said, his voice shaky. Kiba didn't know why, but whoever this Hatori person was, she was greatly feared by these members of the Akatsuki, he was sure that that meant they should be scared too…


	22. Hatori Spider of the Sound

Chapter 22

Hatori Spider of the Sound

Kousetsu slowly stood up. From what Kiba had just witnessed she had lost a little more than one pint of blood, it was a shock that she could find the strength to stand. Itachi clenched his fist. He ran in a blur at her. _Before she can kill us all, I've gotta take her out…_ He hit Kou in the gut. She went shooting backwards towards the wall of the cave.

"Aki!" Kiba called, still not able to adjust to calling her by her real name. She punched the ground beneath her as she flew towards the wall. Her comrades' eyes widened as they watched her arm penetrate the ground beneath her and her arm snap at the elbow. She fell to the ground in a limp pile. Her gaze lifted to her father. She pulled her obviously broken arm out of the ground and stood up.

She stood motionless for a minute. Taking in her surroundings. She then crouched down on the floor, like a spider. "Kou, listen to me. It's your father, calm down please…" Kiba looked up at Itachi with disgust. The man who had nearly killed his daughter was now acting as if it had never happened. Kenji scurried up next to his master. She reached behind her and pulled out a kunai and made a shallow cut in her cheek and placed the kunai in her mouth.

She ran scurried across the floor on all fours at lightning speed. She ran around towards Sasori first, making a slice across his lower back, causing him to stumble backwards. Kenji ran behind the other three Akatsuki members, making a shallow slice in on the backs of all three of them, giving them a small dose of his poison.

Kisame and Deidara fell to the ground, their legs refused to move. Itachi however fought to stay vertical. "Kenji…" Kou said in a demonic voice. "Go to the village. We'll follow behind on Genja." _Yes Master… _Kousetsu stood vertical and bit into her thumb to do her summoning jutsu. The five leaf ninja shot into the air, they found themselves of the back of Kou's giant spider, Genja. "Master Hatori?!" Genja exclaimed. "Yes…" she looked down at the summoned spider, her white eyes glowing. "Take me and these young men to the village." Genja inclined her head and took off toward the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

"That bitch," Itachi said through his raspy coughs. "I will get you, and your little friends…"


	23. I'll Show You

Chapter 23

I'll Show You

Kiba leaned against the think glass tube that Kousetsu was incased in. He sat in a small chair next to her bed. She had been in a coma for about 3 days now. When they had gotten back she and Kiba had been taken into the hospital immediately. He had only received a few bruises and scratches; he had been able to leave the hospital after just one night.

"Kiba, how are you doing?" He looked up to see Tsunade. He smiled weakly, "I'm okay…" The hokage frowned. "I know you and Ak- err Kousetsu had something going on, I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She turned and left, leaving Kiba to his thoughts.

He looked at her. She had an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. Her left arm was wrapped in a large black cast. Her eyes were taped shut. She was wearing a hospital gown. He knew under the paper gown was a large scar with stitches where the doctors had preformed emergency surgery. The doctors had to cut her long beautiful raven colored hair to a bob. He had been told when she fell into a coma that she might be able to hear what he said. He hadn't tried talking to her yet.

"I can't believe you," he started out. He hadn't wanted to have his emotions blow up, but he couldn't contain them. "You lied…to all of us." He stood from his chair and walked across the room. "I understand that you were using us, but you didn't have to take advantage of me the way you did." He walked to her side table, where a vase filled with flowers sat, courtesy of Ino. He smacked the vase across the room; it flew into the wall and shattered. "You destroyed me! You used my feelings for you against me! You pretended to care!" He was now shouting.

He pounded a fist onto the glass respirator. "You didn't mean anything you said did you?!" He inhaled sharply. "I hate you…" He looked through the glass. He could see a small tear roll out of her tapped eye and down her porcelain cheek. _She can here me…_ "What if I said that?" he chuckled. "Too bad I can't. Because when I look at you I don't see Kousetsu Uchiha. I don't see the girl who lied to the whole village, I see Aki Hakashu. I see the girl who tried to kill me the first time I met her. "I see the girl who beat a Sanin. The girl who saved my skin on her first mission, the girl who sent an army of animals after me when I walked in on you changing, that's what I see." He stopped and laughed. "And I see the girl who I saw on the back porch."

"I can't hate you, I really want to right now, but I can't. I love you too much." He looked down at her, his face partially filled with disgust partially filled with pity. "The girl on the back veranda…" he thought out loud. "that's the girl I fell in love with…To think, that that girl was raised by those monsters…I bet you had a real screwy childhood huh?" huh chuckled.

A nurse walked through the door. She unlatched the top of the large glass tube, making a sucking sound as it opened. She lifted the top of the tube off and set it on a trolley. "Is she okay?" Kiba inquired. The nurse nodded, "We just received an alert that she had started breathing on her own, she doesn't need this anymore," she said point to the tube. "Is she awake yet?" The nurse frowned, "no…but she's making progress! She should be up in just a few days." With that she turned and wheeled the trolley out.

Kiba plopped down on the chair again. He timidly reached out to touch her cheek and drew back. "Urgh…" he sighed. "I wish you could tell me everything…" He reached out and grabbed her hand. _I can't tell you, Kiba-kun…but I _can_ show you._ Her voice echoed through his head. He looked at her to see if she had woken up. She hadn't. He felt himself falling, he tried to keep a grip on Kousetsu's hand, but he couldn't. He tumbled down into blackness. He fell farther and farther until he hit solid ground. He was in a large room when a steel table in the middle. Strapped to the table was a small child who looked to be about 3, whose porcelain white skin raven colored hair and emerald green eyes. It was her, it was Kousestu.


	24. Childhood of a Concrete Angel

Chapter 24

Childhood of a Concrete Angel

He looked around the room. It was large. Each of the walls were lined with counters. On one wall was a large cabinet. He saw two doors on opposite walls. One appeared to lead to another room, the other to the outdoors. He looked around and noticed that everything was in grayscale.

"Wake up, Girl. It's test time!" Kiba turned to see a man walk toward the steel table. The young Kousetsu lay unmoving, she looked dead. The man grabbed her by the thin collar of her paper gown. "Wake up or I'll take a bone marrow sample!" Her eyes shot open and darted around the room. The man grinned. _What is happening?_

Kou closed her eyes to prepare herself for the violent stabbing from the doctor. He stabbed a needle into her arm and took blood. Kou whimpered and the man hit her, "Shut up! I told you last week to get a grip! If you just shut up then it won't hurt as much!" The whimpering immediately stopped. The man left Kou on the table alone. Kiba slowly approached the table and saw her close up. Kou's bright green eyes stared blankly above her. Her raven black hair was shoulder length, her skin was sickly pale. She was thin, dangerously thin and she had scars that covered her arms and neck. It looked as if she had been attacked multiple times. His eyes fell on what looked like the most recent scar. It started at her neck and reached up to her ear lobe. It was white and puffy.

He reached out slowly to touch it but was interrupted by a loud scream. He flipped around and saw a large number of people running into the room trying to make it to the door that led outside. They were screaming as loud as they could. Things were being ripped off of counters, cabinets were being overturned. But Kou sat unmoving. She stared at a square on the ceiling. He saw her lips move. _She's saying something!_ He ran over to her table and leaned in to hear. "I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die," she chanted calmly. The doors to the lab flung open and off the hinges.

Three men walked in, all wearing long black silk coats with small white clouds on them. _The Akatsuki? They were the ones who attacked? This is how Kousetsu met Itachi?!_ Itachi walked calmly toward the center of the room. "Itachi, did you find something?" Kisame asked. The much younger looking Itachi slowly walked towards the steel table. He looked the young Kousetsu in the eyes and his look softened. He slowly placed his hand on the shackles the held her to 

the table and crushed them with his bare hand. "What is your name, Little One?" he smiled at her.

She looked at stood up with the little strength she had and pulled her paper gown up, revealing her nakedness. She pointed to the small of her back, on which was a small tattoo. Kiba moved to the opposite side so he could see what she was pointing to. It read in plane letters **3425.**

Itachi nodded. "Come with me child. I'll take you home." He held his hand out and she flinched. She got down on the ground and held on to the base of the metal table. "This is you're home?" She nodded. Kisame and Deidara approached as well. She tried to sink into the ground to disappear. "Come on. I'll take care of you. Come on, me and my friends won't hurt you…" Itachi smiled warmly at her. She reached up and grabbed his offered hand. Kiba wanted to scream, wanted to tell her not to go with him. But before he had the chance, he was enveloped into darkness again.

He landed looked around. He was now on in a small village. He saw the three men walking ahead of him. Their coats now turned inside out to keep their Akatsuki identities secret. He ran up to them and walked beside them, not noticed. Itachi approached the window of a shop. Kou was being carried in his arms. Kiba approached the window; it looked like a small produce mart. Itachi picked up a few things he and his comrades would need. Kou reached out of his cloak and picked up an onion. She held it in her tiny fragile hands. "What is it?" she asked her tiny voice barely audible against the sound of the wind. Itachi looked at her, surprised to hear her speak. "That's an onion. It's something you eat" he explained calmly.

She rolled it around in her hands then looked up with a weak smile. "Can I have it?" Itachi grinned, saying that she could have the onion. She opened her tiny mouth and bit into the raw onion. Kiba winced, he was positive that she was about to spit the onion out. He'd been dared a few months previous to try to eat an onion raw, it had made him cry.

"I like it," she said quietly. Kisame screwed up his nose. "That's one strange girl, Itachi." Itachi shot his friend a look. "Alright then, lets go find a place to stop for lunch," Deidara said, his stomach grumbling loudly. They walked some more until they came to a small clearing of field. Itachi laid his cloak out and let Kou sit on it. He pulled out an apple and sliced it with a kunai for Kousetsu. She looked at it and bit into it. Kiba looked on. They looked like a family, which stuck him hard. _She's showing me this to prove that she's just like me. She wants to show me that they took care of her, that she had a semi-normal childhood._

He looked back at her; she was falling asleep in Kisame's arms. "It's cold…" she breathed. Itachi looked up. From what Kiba could tell, it was probably mid December. Snow began to fall lightly. Kousetsu sat up straight. She held her hand out and a snowflake landed in her palm. "What is this, Ita?" she asked, referring to Itachi. "This is snow, you've never seen it?" She shook her head, answering no. Itachi looked at the falling snow, "I think I know what I'll call you. What about Kousetsu?" he asked. She tilted her head then nodded. "Do you like that name?" "Yes!" she said excitedly. "Alright. Kousetsu it is then!" he smiled.


	25. Optional

Chapter 25

Optional

_A/N_

_As you can see, this chapter is titled OPTIONAL. The reason is because this chapter doesn't have to be read to continue in the series. You can read this chapter if you wish, but it is not needed to finish the story. It's just a few "Stories From Home". Kind of like the type of stuff you and me have had. It tells of Kousetsu, Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, and Sasori raising her through the years. Being in the Akatsuki and raising a daughter must be hard work. So taking a look at how they did it should be tons of fun, eh? LOL I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. If you read it please Review. P.S. If you do read it, you will find out how Kou came to own Kenji._

_-Megumi Tsukazu_

"Can we go out now Daddy?" she pleaded. Itachi said nothing but continued reading a long document. Kousetsu wrapped her small fingers around her father's large arm. "Kou, I can't take you out right now. I'm working." She folded her arms over her chest and pouted. "You're always working…" she stood and walked towards the sliding paper door that led to the other rooms. "Don't go outside without someone Kousetsu Uchiha!" her father yelled as she exited the room.

"Uncle Deidara!!" A man with long blond hair appeared out of the hallway. "What do you want, brat?" Her eyes closed to a slit to glare at her uncle. "I'm not a brat!! And I was wondering if you could take me outside." Deidara touched one finger to his mouth as if he was contemplating something much more complicated then whether to take his niece outside. "No." was his simple answer and he walked back down the hallway to his bedroom.

She heard the front door open and close. Her hopes rose as she heard a familiar voice from the front room. She flung the door open and ran into the arms of the man who had just entered the manor. "Hey, squirt! What's up?" Kisame picked her up and held her in his arms. "Daddy promised he'd take me outside but he isn't." Kisame chuckled and looked at Itachi who shrugged in return. "Daddy said he would huh?" Kisame questioned.

"Come on Itachi. You've been rereading that document for a week now. Take you're daughter outside" he smiled putting the six year old Kousetsu on the ground. Itachi rubbed his temples before looking up at Kisame. "Fine. Kou, let's get you dressed. It's freezing outside."

After Itachi had dressed himself and Kou for the harsh February cold he walked her out to the back veranda. A thick layer of snow covered the ground. "Wow…Daddy, it's beautiful…" Itachi gently squeezed his daughter's hand. "It's been a while since you seen snow. Almost three years." Kisame Deidara and Sasori had followed them to the back porch.

Kousetsu stepped onto the snow and walked a few steps forward and fell through the snow. "Kousetsu are you okay?!" Itachi asked worried. He ran over to her through the snow and fell in as well. Laughter erupted from Kisame and Deidara. Itachi frowned and pelted a ball of snow at them. "Oh, it's on now Uchihas!"

A snowball fight raged between the father daughter team and Kisame and Deidara. For hours the fight raged. Sasori sat on the veranda watching the war. After the teams had signed a peace treaty they sat on the veranda. "Did you have fun Kou?" Itachi asked, his daughter nestled between his legs sipping on a hot cup of tea. She smiled and nodded up at him.

"You know what today is right, Brat?" Deidara asked smiling. She thought about the date for a second then nodded excitedly. "Today is my birthday! And the third anniversary of being part of the family!" Kisame chuckled. "That's right, and we've all got presents for you." Kisame pulled a long sheathed sword and handed it to Kousetsu.

"You got me a sword, Uncle Kisa?" She pulled the sword out of the sheath and found that there was no blade. "Uncle Kisa, is this one of your special swords?" He nodded with a grin. "It was custom made to work with your Kekkei Genkai. I'll teach you how to use it this upcoming year." Kousetsu beamed. "Thank you Uncle Kisa!!"

"Alright! My turn!" Deidara jumped up. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a large rolled up piece of paper. He unrolled it and handed it to Kousetsu. It was a large painting of her and her uncles. She looked at it admirably. It was beautiful. The colors clashed so that it mesmerized the onlookers. "Thank you Uncle Deidara, it's beautiful."

Sasori grabbed her hand. "Here…" was all he said as he handed her a small cloak. It was black silk with white silk clouds sewed to it. She grinned widely at it. Kousetsu looked up at her Puppet Uncle who looked nervous. She wrapped her small arms around his waist and hugged him in thanks.

"Kousetsu come here" her father said soothingly. She sat beside him grinning. "I know that when we're away on missions it can get really lonely, and you don't know many people besides us in the Akatsuki. So it came upon me to 

get you something that would keep you company. Now close your eyes." She obeyed. She heard him stand and walk away then walk back seconds later. "Hold out your hands." She obeyed. He placed something heavy and moist in her hands. She slowly opened her eyes. She screwed up her eyes. "What is it?" It was the size of her head, white and lumpy. It was heavy but somewhat wet.

"Kou, it's an egg." _An egg?_ "When it hatches, you get to keep what's inside." She gasped. "What's inside Daddy?" He smiled down at her. "You'll have to find out for yourself." She smiled back, "When's it gonna hatch?" "It should start cracking in about one week," he said. She looked at the egg smiling; she could feel a tiny heartbeat. She didn't care what creature would emerge from the egg in one week's time, she would cherish it like her family cherished her.

_-Page Break-_

Her sweat drenched hair stuck to her forehead as she walked through the vegetation. Kenji followed close behind. An eleven year old Kousetsu strutted through the front door of the Akatsuki headquarters, where she lived with her father, uncles, and other members of the organization.

As she walked through the door she was hit by a thick cloud of black smoke. She heard Kenji hiss as the door closed. "Hello?!" she called through the smoke. She fell to the ground and inched her way toward the source of the smoke: the kitchen. She was about twenty feet away from the kitchen but she could see a shape standing with their back towards her. She cursed under her breath as she realized who it was. "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!"

Within seconds Itachi was bolting down the stairwell and cautiously making his way through the smoke. "What is it? What's wrong?" His voice was shaky. Kousetsu pointed into the kitchen, "He's trying to cook again!!" Itachi nodded at his daughter, "Alright you know the drill, I'll go get Sasori and Kisame!" Kou raised her hand and moved it right to left; the smoke began clearing as she moved her hand. "What do you think you're doing?!"

He whipped around and smiled at her. "I didn't hear you come in, Kousetsu. Are you ready for some dinner?" Kousetsu glared up at the man in her kitchen. He was wearing a bandana to keep his long blond hair away from the stove. "Deidara, you know _**I **_do the cooking! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He turned back to the stove where a large pot was smoking. He opened his mouth to say something to her but turned to see a claw push the lid open and scrape at the outside of the pot. Kousetsu's uncle pulled out a kunai 

and stabbed at it. "I told you to die!! Become stew or meet your match!!" The claw drew back into the pot.

Kousetsu let her head fall into her hands as she looked at her uncle smiling over the stove. "Kenji," she whispered so Deidara couldn't hear. "Don't worry, I'll make something else…"

_A/N_

_Sorry it took so long to update Black Widow… I guess I've just been wrapped up in my new story that I wasn't working on this one. Sorry!! Well tomorrow is my first day of school so I probably won't be able to update as often as I have been this summer. But don't worry, I'll try my hardest. Wish me luck at High School tomorrow all my fans. I'm kinda scared…its my first day of high school tomorrow. Sad Face D: lol Well wish me luck my fans. I heart you all!!_

_-Megumi Tsukazu_


	26. A Fairwell to Remember

Chapter 26

A Fairwell to Remember

She opened her eyes. It was the first day at Konoha all over again. The room was completely white. The shades were pulled closed. The only difference was the fact that her arm was in a large plaster cast and an oxygen tube had been tapped under her nose.

She sat up, half hoping to see Kiba and Akamaru in the corner. Of course her hopes were pointless. She was alone, and she was afraid for what reason she did not know. She felt helpless and vulnerable, something she had not felt since she was twelve. She plucked the oxygen tube off of her lip and yanked the IV out of her arm wincing. _Stupid needles, she_ thought with a small shiver. She searched through the drawers until she found her kunai pouch. She then whipped out a kunai and dug it into her cast, ripping it down the middle and pulled her arm out. It looked fine, she could feel it starting to throb though. She opened the door and looked down the hallways of the hospital. She was alone. The building was completely empty. As if they had evacuated and left her, the traitor, behind.

She made her way, slowly, to the door. She braced herself as she opened it revealing the outside world of Konoha. She didn't know how many days she had been asleep but judging from what she saw it had to have been at least a month. The bustling streets of Konoha were now deserted. She could see the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, boards were covering up the serving counter. She could see smoke rising in the distance. It was a ghost town. She was scared beyond reason.

"Kousetsu?"

The call was coming from behind her. The familiar voice made her jump with hope as she turned to see who it was. A pink haired ninja stared at her. "Sakura…" she ran toward her and wrapped her arms around Sakura's waist, fighting back tears. "Sakura! Where is everyone?!" Sakura chuckled holding her. "You guys, it's alright, it's Kou!" Kousetsu looked around to see who she was referring to.

Neji and Tenten appeared from behind the Ichiraku Ramen. Ino, Naruto, and Hinata walked out from the near by trees. Shino seemed to step out of thin air. "She's awake…that's a good sign." The voice made Kousetsu freeze. She let go of Sakura and slowly turned around to face the voice. Her bright green eyes met with the soft brown ones of her onlooker. She looked him over, her jaw hanging open. His soft brown hair was being tousled in the light breeze. He red tattoos were standing out against his lightly tanned skin and at his ankle was a small white dog.

"Kiba…" she breathed deeply, trying not to embrace him. After everything she had done to him, she knew that hugs weren't going to fix anything. His nostrils flared as he looked her over. "Kiba," she said stepping toward him, "what happened?" He sighed and looked over the street. "The Akatsuki attacked about three weeks ago. They originally just asked for us to them you, which we turned down. In return they've been slowly destroying our village. We had to evacuate two days ago."

Kousetsu breathed in and slowly exhaled. She tried to remember the beautiful walk way that was originally there. She felt her throat run dry as she looked at what her family had done to her home. She knew what she had to do.

"Where is Kenji…" He shrugged. "I don't know after we got back, he took off." She began channeling her chakra, calling him to her. Within seconds he was at her side. "What are you doing?" Kiba asked in disbelief. "I'm taking care of my business…" She saw his eyes go wide. She felt something brush past her ankles and looked down. All of her animals had gathers around her. As if they thought they would go fight with her. "I've got to go stop this. Look at what I've done to your home…to my home…" Shikana yipped happily.

Kou shook her head. "No, Shikana. You're not going this time. You'll stay here with my friends, that goes for all of you." Nagini began hissing in protest. She picked her up and cradled her in her arms. She looked up at her friends. "I am so sorry all of you. I betrayed all of your trust. I was originally just going to pass through but you're the first friends I've ever had…I didn't want to leave. Now look at all the trouble I've caused."

She walked toward Naruto and placed Nagini into his hand and smiled. "I can't keep my animals, so I'm hoping that you'll take care of them while I'm gone?" He looked down at the snake as it curled around his wrist and flicked his fingers with her tongue. He nodded at Kou. "Arsis you can go with Ino and Sakura. I'm pretty sure that they'll take care of you" she smiled. Ngasi fluttered over and landed on Shino's nose, that was easily decided. Sani, her fruit bat landed on Neji shoulder, once again easily decided. Shikana yipped again. "Shikana, I want you to stay with Kiba, alright?" She heard him sigh and she stiffened. Kiba bent down to pick her up, "I'll take care of her, Hana will like a new dog…"

His response was so hollow and cold. She felt her heart being ripped into shreds, she could feel tears start to come down her face. She hated herself, she had no right to cry at this point. She turned before he could see the tears. "Alright then…" she said pitifully. "Good bye…Aki," Hinata smiled. Kousetsu turned and let the tears fall now, not of pain but of joy. "Yeah, I'll see you around Hakashu-San," this time it was Ino who was bidding good bye. Tenten smiled at her. "Yeah, thanks for the weapons again, Aki-San." Neji bowed deeply and politely. "You won't be forgotten, Aki Hakashu. Neither will Kousetsu Uchiha…" She was jubilant at the fact that they would remember her, not as the traitor Kousetsu Uchiha, but as their friend. The Leaf Village ninja, Aki Hakashu. All of them…all except one. But she knew she didn't deserve anything from him, especially remembrance.

She hopped onto Kenji's back. "Come on Kenj…It's our time now. We'll show 'em how much of a bitch karma is," she chuckled halfheartedly. The spider began walking slowly away towards the exit of the village. She would miss them all, she knew. She knew she was walking toward her death, that she could never win against all of them. It was depressing that she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye to Kiba, the person she would miss most.

Kiba watched as they walked slowly toward the exit. He watched as the head full of raven black hair, the large emerald eyes, the white porcelain skin, and those soft light pink lips strolled away from him. _She didn't say goodbye…_ He realized that this would probably be the last time he would ever see her. His chest felt like it was being ripped in two. He didn't know what it was that happened next or how he had made it to Kousetsu but he had. He didn't care if he hurt her now, he just needed to be near her. He grabbed a fist full of her hair to catch her before she was out of his reach again. Her head yanked around and looked at him. She hopped down from her spider and stared at him… "Yes?"

Kiba wrapped his free arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss. His other hand clutched the roots of her now bobbed black hair. He didn't expect any reaction at all but he got one. She warmly welcomed his action, molding her lips to his. When she finally broke contact for air she smiled at him. "I'll come back, I promise…" "I don't believe you," he said breathless. "You don't have to," she chuckled, "I'm the bad guy, remember?" She pulled his arm from around her waist and detatched his hand from her hair and jumped back onto Kenji's back. "Let's go Kenji! I don't wanna be late for our fight!"

Kiba watched as Kenji and Kousetsu leaped from the ground into the trees. She could have sworn he heard her laughing as she moved away from them. Toward her demise. But she had promised, promised her return. He smiled to himself as he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted into the trees. "I love you, Kousetsu Uchiha!" And although he didn't expect an answer he got one. "I love you, Kiba Inuzuka!"


	27. Sequel! I know amazing right!

Why hello everyone! I haven't seen a lot of you lately, I've been too wrapped up in Dancing to the Beat. But I would like to inform you that the sequel to Black Widow will be appearing on the site in a few months time. I've scheduled the first chapter to appear on December 5. It was originally going to be the 12, but then I remember, oh yeah, im going to the movies that day to see...TWILIGHT!! W000000T! Are you guys psyched for the movie or what?! Well I still need a title for the upcoming sequel so if you guys wanna send me an email with a bunch of suggestions then I'll post a poll with my favorite one and let you guys choose the title for the Black Widow sequel. I haven't even begun writing yet but I will next month. Lol I love you guys, ur awesome!

-Megumi Tsukazu


	28. Author's Note

Hello readers. I've come to apologize about my absence this summer. Much has conspired, most of which was less that good. I've gone through a lot of family troubles and personal troubles this summer. Lot's of heart break…lots of lost dreams…lol I sound so pathetic. Anyway, it got to such a point that I believed I'd stop writing all together. But I decided against it, something for which I am glad. I will continue writing my fan fictions near the beginning of December, after NaNoWriMo, and after I get situated in my new school. For those who share my faith in God, please pray for me and my family. We would greatly appreciate it. And so I return to my melancholy life. Wish me luck. I love you all… I'll try to make it until December.

Sincerely,

Megumi Tsukazu


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